RARY 
;*smr  or 

IFOONIA 

IOIGQO 


f'fl- 


RAMBLES  IN 
AUTOGRAPH  LAND 


ADRl  LINE 

Adrian  Hoffman  Joline 

From  a  photograph  by  Pach,  N.  Y. 
ILLUSTRATFI'.' 

MANY    PC! 
AND      FAi 


G.  P.  PUTNA  Vi    S  SONS 
NEW  YORK  ,JNDON 

Hbe  ItnlciicriKX'x' 


RAMBLES  IN 
AUTOGRAPH  LAND 


BY 
ADRIAN    H.    JOLINE 


ILLUSTRATED  WITH 
MANY  PORTRAITS 
AND  FACSIMILES 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 

3be  ftnicherbocher  press 

MCMXIII 


COPYRIGHT,  1913 

BY 
MARY  E.  L.  JOLINE 


Tbe  fmfcberbocfeer  press,  "Hew  Uorft 


FOREWORD 

To  most  men  an  avocation  is  merely  what 
the  word,  in  its  strict  significance,  implies 
— a  relaxation  from  the  serious  business 
of  life.  But  Adrian  Hoffman  Joline  made 
the  practice  and  pursuit  of  literature  a  very 
real  thing.  He  loved  books  and  bookmen 
with  a  genuine  passion,  and  he  wrote  about 
them  with  a  sympathetic  insight  that  was  as 
far  removed  from  dilettanteism  as  from  ped- 
antry. Now  "collecting"  is  too  often  a  mere 
manifestation  of  the  selfish  instinct  for  exclu- 
sive possession;  with  Joline  it  was  a  joy  so 
vital  and  so  generous  that  he  could  not  rest 
until  he  had  shared  it  with  his  fellow-men. 
It  was  the  human  document  that  interested 
him,  and  the  rare  edition,  the  priceless  auto- 
graph, were  only  the  outward  and  visible 
signs  of  an  underlying  spirit.  A  book  or  a 
manuscript  meant  to  him  personality,  and  he 

ill 


v 


possessed  the  happy  faculty  of  both  discerning 
it  for  himself,  and  of  making  it  visible  to  others. 
His  was  the  blessed  sense  of  humour,  which, 
in  the  highest  analysis,  is  only  another  name 
for  understanding.  He  laughed  at  foibles, 
but  he  did  not  sit  in  judgment  upon  faults. 
He  was  a  keen  critic,  but  he  was  content  to 
sift  the  wheat  from  the  chaff  without  smother- 
ing his  readers  in  the  dust  of  the  controversial 
threshing-floor.  He  talked  with  his  books  and 
autographs  rather  than  about  them;  and  any 
interested  bystander,  who  cared  to  join  the 
friendly  circle,  was  sure  of  a  welcome;  the 
only  password  was  sympathy,  the  only  quali- 
fication, a  measure  of  the  host's  own  kindly 
tolerance.  Overburdened  with  the  many 
cares  of  his  busy  professional  life,  he  yet  made 
time  and  occasion  for  communion  with  the 
immortals,  and  in  their  noble  company  he 
found  inexhaustible  refreshment  for  both 
body  and  mind.  And  so,  when  he  wrote 
about  his  books,  and  their  makers,  the  domi- 
nant note  was  that  of  an  affectionate  gratitude 
for  benefits  bestowed,  for  happiness  conferred. 
His  own  literary  work  was  a  ministry  of  un- 


•  EXLTBRIS    - 
\DRJAX  HOFFMAN  JOLINE 


Bookplate  of  Adrian  Hoffman  Joline,  en- 
graved by  J.  W.  Spenceley 


jforeworfc  v 

pretending  love.  The  very  simplicity  of  his 
titles — Meditations  of  an  Autograph  Collector, 
Diversions  of  a  Book  Lover,  Peapack  Papers, 
etc. — bears  witness  to  the  unaffected  modesty 
with  which  he  regarded  his  excursions  along 
the  highway  of  letters.  His  was  a  pure  offer- 
ing, and  one  that  carried  with  it  its  own  en- 
during reward. 

The  manuscript  of  Rambles  in  Autograph 
Land  was  found  among  Mr.  Joline's  post- 
humous papers,  and  he  had  spent  the  greater 
part  of  the  last  summer  of  his  life  in  making  it 
ready  for  the  press.  A  certain  amount  of 
revision  and  rearrangement  of  material  re- 
mained to  be  done,  and  this  task  has  been 
accomplished  by  Mrs.  Joline,  the  first  and 
always  the  chief  sharer  of  her  husband's 
literary  confidences. 

VAN  TASSEL  SUTPHEN. 


xan  l^offman  jioftnc . 


Bookplate  of  Adrian  Hoffman  Joline,  engraved  by 
W.  F.  Hopson 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGB 

I. — UNREAD  BOOKS  i 

II. — FACSIMILES  AND  FORGERIES        .        .  28 

III. — THE  AUTOGRAPH  IN  LITERATURE        .  45 

IV. — AUTOGRAPHS  AND  EXTRA -ILLUSTRATION  64 

V. — THE  AUTOGRAPH  MARKET          .         .  78 

VI. — PRIVATE  VENDORS  AND  THEIR  WAYS  .  99 

VII. — COLLECTORS  AND  THEIR  METHODS       .  115 

VIII. — MY  OWN  COLLECTION        .         .         .  132 

IX. — DIARIES    .         .        .        .        .        .  158 

X. — SOME  NINETEENTH-CENTURY  WRITERS  179 

XL — A  GROUP  OF  ENGLISH  STATESMEN      .  206 

XII. — COLONIAL  NOTABLES  ....  233 

XIIL-  AMERICAN  AUTHORS  ....  259 

XIV. — Two  NEW  ENGLAND  PHILOSOPHERS    .  281 

INDEX 317 


vu 


PAG* 

ADRIAN  HOFFMAN  JOLINE      .         .    Frontispiece 

From  a  photograph  by  Pach 

BOOKPLATE  OF  ADRIAN  HOFFMAN  JOLINE       .       iv 
Engraved  by  J.  W.  Spenceley 

BOOKPLATE  OF  ADRIAN  HOFFMAN  JOLINE       .       vi 

Engraved  by  W.  F.  Hopson 

EDGAR  ALLAN  POE        .        .        .        .        ;      64 

From  an  etching 

PAGE  OF  ORIGINAL  DRAFT  OF  A  LETTER  (7  pages) 
BY  EDGAR  ALLAN  POE,  UNDATED,  BUT 
WRITTEN  ABOUT  1844  .  .  .  .  66 

LAURENCE  HUTTON        .         .        .        .        *     128 

From  a  painting  from  life  by  Dora  Wheeler  Keith 

LAST  PAGE  OF  A.  L.  S.  (5  pages)  OF  LAURENCE 
HUTTON,  APRIL  18,  1903  .  .  .  ,  4  130 

THOMAS  GRAY       .         .        .        .        .        .     138 

From  the  engraving  by  T.  Basire 

MANUSCRIPT  POEMS  BY  THOMAS  GRAY,  WITH 
ANNOTATION  BY  HORACE  WALPOLE  .  .136 

CHARLES  LAMB     ..        .         .        .        .        .138 

From  an  engraving  of  the  painting  by  Henry  Meyer 
ix 


HHu0trat!on0 


PAGE 

A.  L.  S.  OF  CHARLES  LAMB  TO  ROBERT  SOUTHEY, 
NOVEMBER  7,  1804  .  .  .  .  .  138 

FIRST  AND  LAST  PAGES  OF  A.  L.  S.  OF  CHARLES 
LLOYD  TO  ROBERT  SOUTHEY,  UNDATED  .  .140 

GEORGE  GORDON,  LORD  BYRON       .         .         .140 

From  a  mezzotint 

PORTION  OF  ORIGINAL  MS.  OF  "OSCAR  OF 
ALVA,  "  BY  GEORGE  GORDON,  LORD  BYRON  142 

THOMAS  HOOD 144 

FIRST  PAGE  OF  A.  L.  S.  (4  pages)  OF  THOMAS 
HOOD  TO  F.  O.  WARD,  UNDATED  .  .  .  144 

ROBERT  SOUTHEY  .         .         .         .         .146 

From  an  engraving  by  E.  Finden  after  the  painting 
by  T.  Phillips,  R.  A. 

PAGE  OF  ORIGINAL  MS.  OF  "THE  CURSE  OF 
KEHAMA,  "  BY  ROBERT  SOUTHEY  .  .  .  146 

MATTHEW  PRIOR 148 

FIRST  PAGE  OF  A.  L.  S.  (3  pages)  OF  MATTHEW 
PRIOR,  JUNE  1 7, 1708 148 

ALFRED,  LORD  TENNYSON       .         .         .         .150 

FIRST  PAGE  OF  A.  L.  S.  (3  pages)  OF  ALFRED, 
LORD  TENNYSON,  TO  BAYARD  TAYLOR,  MARCH 
19, 1866 150 

PERCY  BYSSHE  SHELLEY        .         .         .         .152 

From  an  engraving  by  W.  Finden 


UHustrationg  xi 


A.  L.  S.  OF  PERCY  BYSSHE  SHELLEY  TO  HAY- 
WARD,  APRIL  27, 1817  .         .         .      -••••..    152 

FIRST  PAGE  OF  A.  L.  S.  (3  pages)  OF  BRYAN 
WALLER  PROCTER,  DECEMBER  25, 1866         .-.     154 

SAMUEL  ROGERS    «•        .         .         .         .      '•• .  -   156 

From  an  engraving  by  W.  Finden  after  the  paint- 
ing by  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence 

FIRST  PAGE  OF  A.  L.  S.  (2  pages)  OF  SAMUEL 
ROGERS,  APRIL  1 2, 1841        .         .         .         j     156 

JOHN  EVELYN 158 

From  the  engraving  by  W.  H.  Worthington  after 
the  painting  by  Walker 

A.  L.  S.  OF  JOHN  EVELYN,  TO  SAMUEL  PEPYS, 
May  10,  1700     ......     160 

RICHARD  STEELE   .         .         .         .         .         .162 

From  the  engraving  by  G.  Vertue  after  the  painting 
by  I.  Thornhill 

A.  L.  S.  OF  RICHARD  STEELE  TO  SIR  THOMAS 
HAMNER,  MARCH  21,  1714          .         .         .     162 

SAMUEL  JOHNSON  .         .        '.'!       .         .      •']     164 

LAST  PAGE  OF  A.  L.  S.  (2  pages)  of  SAMUEL 
JOHNSON,  SEPTEMBER  4, 1784        .         .         .     164 

EDMUND  BURKE    .  .         .     166 

FIRST  AND  LAST  PAGES  OF  A.  L.  S.  OF  EDMUND 
BURKE  TO  FANNY  BURNEY,  JULY  29, 1782        .     166 

ROBERT,  BARON  CLIVE 168 


xii  Ulluetratlons 


LAST  PAGE  OF  A.  L.  S.  (3  pages)  OF  ROBERT, 
BARON  CLIVE,  NOVEMBERS,  1765  .  .170 

JOHN  RUSKIN 174 

From  an  old  woodcut 

FIRST  PAGE  OF  A.  L.  S.  (3  pages)  OF  JOHN 
RUSKIN  TO  WILLIAM  RIDDLE,  UNDATED  .  176 

THOMAS  DE  QUINCEY 182 

LAST  PAGE  OF  A.  L.  S.  (4  pages)  OF  THOMAS  DE 
QUINCEY,  JULY  1 7, 1837  .  .  .  .184 

THOMAS  CARLYLE 186 

FIRST  AND  LAST  PAGES  OF  A.  L.  S.  (12  pages)  OF 
THOMAS  CARLYLE  TO  HIS  WIFE,  UNDATED 
BUT  APRIL,  1841 188 

WILLIAM  MAKEPEACE  THACKERAY  .         .        .192 

FIRST  PAGE  OF  A.  L.  S.  OF  WILLIAM  MAKEPEACE 
THACKERAY  TO  WILLIAM  HARRISON  AINS- 
WORTH,  JANUARY  1 3, 1857  ....  194 

A.  L.  S.  OF  WILLIAM  MAKEPEACE  THACKERAY 
TO  JAMES  FRASER,  JULY  i,  [1833]  .  .  194 

CHARLES  DICKENS 196 

From  the  etching  by  Hollyer 

FIRST  PAGE  OF  A.  L.  S.  (4  pages)  OF  CHARLES 
DICKENS  TO  THOMAS  MITTON,  JUNE  13, 1865  .  196 

RICHARD  COBDEN 206 

From  the  engraving  by  Hollyer  after  a  photograph 
by  W.  &  D.  Downey 


Illustrations 


PAGE 

LAST  PAGE  OF  A.  L.  S.  (4  pages)  OF  RICHARD 
COBDEN,  FEBRUARY  18, 1864  .  .  .  208 

JOHN  BRIGHT        .        .        .        .        .        .    210 

FIRST  AND  LAST  PAGES  OF  A.  L.  S.  (4  pages)  OF 
JOHN  BRIGHT  TO  HORACE  GREELEY,  OCTOBER 
i,  1864  .  .  .  .  .  .  .212 

A.  L.  S.  OF  SIR  FRANCIS  BERNARD,  AUGUST 
8,  1761  .  .  .  .  .  .  .236 

SIR  GUY  CARLETON        .         .         .         .  240 

From  an  etching  by  H.  B.  Hall 

FIRST  AND  LAST  PAGES  OF  A.  L.  S.  OF  SIR  GUY 
CARLETON  TO  GENERAL  DE  RIEDESEL,  JUNE 
6,  1783  . 

NATHANAEL  GREENE      ..... 

From  an  engraving   by   R.  Whitechurch,  after  the 
painting  by  R.  Peale 

A.  L.  S.  OF  NATHANAEL  GREENE  TO  COLONEL 
JAMES  ABELE,  MAY  25, 1779 

BENEDICT  ARNOLD         .        ,        . 

From  an  engraving  by  B.  L.  Provost  after  a  draw- 
ing from  life  by  Du  Simitier 

FIRST  AND  LAST  PAGES  OF  A.  L.  S.  OF  BENEDICT 
ARNOLD  TO  GOVERNOR  GEORGE  CLINTON, 
AUGUST  22, 1780  .  .  .  .  .  244 

BAYARD  TAYLOR 256 

FIRST  PAGE  OF  A.  L.  S.  (3  pages)  OF  BAYARD 


xiv  Ullustrations 


PAGE 

TAYLOR  TO  JAMES  R.  OSGOOD,   DECEMBER 

17,  1870 258 

OLIVER  WENDELL  HOLMES      .         .         .         .     262 

LAST  PAGE  OF  A.  L.  S.  (2  pages)  OF  OLIVER 
WENDELL  HOLMES  TO  BAYARD  TAYLOR,  SEP- 
TEMBER 1,1875 262 

SAMUEL  LANGHORNE  CLEMENS        .         .         .     264 

From  the  engraving  by  T.  Cole  after  the  painting  by 
A.  H.  Thayer 

FIRST  AND  LAST  PAGES  OF  A.  L.  S.  OF  SAMUEL 
LANGHORNE  CLEMENS  TO  BAYARD  TAYLOR, 

UNDATED    .......       264 

HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW  .         .         .     266 

From  the  engraving  by  S.  Hollyer 

FIRST  PAGE  OF  A.  L.  S.  OF  HENRY  WADSWORTH 
LONGFELLOW  TO  BAYARD  TAYLOR,  NOVEM- 
BER 23, 1871  ......  266 

JAMES  RUSSELL  LOWELL         ....     268 

LAST  PAGE  OF  A.  L.  S.  OF  JAMES  RUSSELL  LOW- 
ELL TO  BAYARD  TAYLOR,  AUGUST  24,  1870  268 

JOHN  LOTHROP  MOTLEY          .         .         .         .270 

FIRST  PAGE  OF  A.  L.  S.  (4  pages)  OF  JOHN 
LOTHROP  MOTLEY  TO  GENERAL  ADAM 
BADEAU,  DECEMBER  24,  1868  .  .  .  270 

NATHANIEL  HAWTHORNE        ....     272 

From  a  copper  print 


Illustrations  xv 


A.  L.  S.  OF  NATHANIEL  HAWTHORNE,  DECEMBER 
10,  1850 272 

THOMAS  BAILEY  ALDRICH       ....     274 

From   a   steel   engraving 

FIRST  PAGE  OF  A.  L.  S.  (2  pages)  OF  THOMAS 
BAILEY  ALDRICH  TO  GENERAL  GEORGE  P. 
MORRIS,  JULY  26,  NO  YEAR  ....  274 

NOAH  WEBSTER    .         .        .        .        .        .    276 

From  a  steel  engraving 

FIRST  PAGE  OF  A.  L.  S.  (2  pages)  OF  NOAH 
WEBSTER,  FEBRUARY  20, 1843  .  .  .  276 


Rambles  in  Autograph  Land 


CHAPTER  I 

UNREAD  BOOKS 

Unread  Books — Books  Commercially  Valueless — Unappreciated 
Authors — Book  Preferences — Why  Collect  Autographs? — 
Popular  Errors  about  Them — Mr.  Madan's  Deliverance — 
William  Carew  Hazlitt — Signature-gathering — Some  English 
Collectors — Upcott — Dawson  Turner — Gold  win  Smith's 
Sneer — An  English  Autograph  King — Newspaper  Wisdom 
about  Autographs. 

Lector  benevole!  for  so 
They  used  to  call  you  years  ago— 
I  can't  pretend  to  make  you  read 
The  pages  that  to  this  succeed. 

THUS  does  a  delightful  lover  of  books  begin 
the  prologue  of  De  Libris.  I  have  misgivings 
about  inducing  the  lector  benevolus  to  read 
even  this  page,  although  it  is  graced  and  em- 
bellished by  the  words  of  Austin  Dobson. 


2       "Rambles  in  Butograpb  Xanb 

Many  books  are  talked  about  and  seldom 
read,  and  many  are  both  read  and  talked 
about — but  there  is  another  sort  which  no 
one  ever  speaks  of  and  no  one  ever  reads.  A 
book  about  autographs  usually  belongs  to  the 
last  mentioned  variety;  perhaps  it  would  not 
have  been  so  a  century  or  more  ago,  when 
there  were  those  who  actually  bought  and  read 
the  dreary  "Essays  on  Taste,"  about  which 
the  devoted  bibliophile  Robert  Southey  said: 
"There  are  still  readers  who  have  never  read 
an  Essay  on  Taste — and  if  they  take  my  advice 
they  never  will ;  for  they  can  no  more  improve 
their  taste  by  so  doing  than  they  could  improve 
their  appetite  or  their  digestion  by  studying 
a  cookery  book."  One  would  think  that  even 
autographic  gossip  would  be  more  interesting. 

Only  a  few  months  ago  I  was  told  by  the 
accomplished  manager  of  a  famous  publishing 
house  in  New  York  that  my  writings  probably 
had  little  commercial  value.  I  did  not  find 
myself  prepared  to  dispute  an  authoritative 
judgment  coming  from  the  business  side  of 
the  publishing  office.  But  when  one  reflects 
about  some  of  the  dreadful  things  which 


TUnreab 


appear  to  have  "commercial  value,"  such  an 
assurance  is  not  so  devoid  of  flattery  as  it 
might  seem  to  be  at  first  blush.  If  one  is 
inclined  to  take  optimistic  views  of  matters 
in  general,  there  is  cause  of  self-gratulation  in 
being,  like  Katisha in  the  Mikado,  "an  acquired 
taste."  Any  one  who  deliberately  writes 
for  the  limited  class  known  as  "autograph 
collectors,"  and  who  expects  to  be  enrolled 
in  the  closing  pages  of  The  Bookman  as  a  "best 
seller"  is  doomed  to  disappointment.  He 
might  better  produce  a  volume  on  the  Habits 
and  Customs  of  Earthworms  or  a  treatise  on 
the  Law  of  Contingent  Remainders.  If  there 
be  a  distinction  in  writing  for  the  few,  he  must 
be  content  with  that,  and  with  the  consoling 
thought  that  it  is  like  sitting  down  to  dine 
with  a  small  band  of  "choice  spirits,"  instead 
of  going  through  the  form  of  feasting  at  a 
Waldorf-Astoria  banquet  where  a  thousand 
men  feed  noisily  to  the  accompaniment  of  an 
orchestra  and  listen  to  the  laboured  discourses, 
long  drawn  out,  with  which  the  diners  are 
regaled  towards  the  hour  of  midnight.  It  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at  that  autographic  dis- 


4       "Rambles  In  Hutosrapb  ILanfc 

quisitions  should  be  little  esteemed ;  those  who 
like  autographs  generally  know  so  much  about 
the  subject  that  they  do  not  demand  further 
enlightenment,  and  those  who  do  not  care 
for  them  are  simply  bored  by  a  book  about 
them;  wherefore  I  have  written  this  book. 

Writers  whose  works  are  unread  usually 
find  a  dubious  solace  in  the  experience  of 
George  Meredith,  whose  "  long  and  noble 
struggle  against  the  inattention  of  the  public," 
as  Mr.  Gosse  calls  it,  is  known  to  most  stu- 
dents of  modern  literature.  In  1883  he  wrote 
to  some  one  who  was  begging  for  a  copy  of 
Vittoria:  "The  effect  of  public  disfavour 
has  been  to  make  me  indifferent  to  my  works 
after  they  have  gone  through  their  course  of 
castigation."  Mr.  Gosse  alludes  to  the  as- 
sertion that  "the  movement  in  favour  of  him 
began  in  America,"  and  adds,  "if  so,  more 
praise  to  American  readers."  But  Meredith 
devoted  himself  chiefly  to  fiction  and  it  must 
be  a  low  order  of  fiction  which  does  not  get 
itself  read  by  somebody  at  some  time;  more- 
over there  are  not  many  Merediths.  Still, 
notwithstanding  his  present  fame,  it  cannot 


Tflnreab  Boofes 


be  said  that  in  general  popularity  he  ranks 
with  Arnold  Bennett  or  with  the  author  of 
The  Rosary.  Recently  an  intelligent  woman 
asked  me  if  he  was  the  man  who  wrote  Lucile, 
which  reminded  me  of  the  personage  I  met  in 
Washington  who  alluded  to  Henry  James  as 
"that  two  horsemen  fellow." 

There  is  not  much  dispute  about  the  fact 
that  the  ordinary  reader  prefers  to  read  what 
repeats  and  embodies  his  own  beliefs  and 
opinions,  and  not  the  opposing  views  of  the 
writer.  Ruskin  thought  that  a  reader  in 
laying  down  a  book  was  apt  to  say,  "How  good 
that  is — that  is  exactly  what  I  think,"  and 
Mr.  Benson  appears  to  be  satisfied  that 
Ruskin  was  right  and  that  the  best  authors 
are  not  those  who  tell  us  what  they  themselves 
believe,  but  those  who  show  us  what  we  be- 
lieve. We  love  to  find,  expressed  in  print  and 
by  aptly  chosen  words,  what  has  been  lying, 
formless  perhaps,  in  our  own  minds,  and  we 
are  pleased  with  the  sensible  author  who  agrees 
with  us  in  our  opinions.  Multitudes  resemble 
good  Joe  Gargery  and  are  enraptured  when 
they  do  come  upon  a  "J-O-Joe,"  exclaiming, 


6       IRambles  in  Butoarapb  lanfc 

"there  at  last  is  a  J-O-Joe"  and  becoming 
aware  of  "how  interesting  reading  is."  There 
are  many  reasons  why  this  contribution  to 
literature  must,  in  the  nature  of  things,  find 
few  readers ;  still  it  will  belong  to  a  class  which 
every  one  likes  to  belong  to — the  majority. 
Some  people  pretend  that  they  prefer  to  be 
in  the  minority,  and  occasionally  I  affect  that 
pose  myself,  but  to  be  wholly  candid,  it  is  not 
altogether  a  comfortable  one.  It  is  a  means 
now  and  then  of  making  an  obscure  person 
conspicuous.  I  knew  a  respectable  lady  who, 
when  asked  that  old  question,  "Which  is 
heavier,  a  pound  of  feathers  or  a  pound  of 
lead?"  answered  with  a  sniff  of  conscious  su- 
periority, "Some people  would  say  'a  pound  of 
lead,'  but  /  say  '  a  pound  of  feathers. ' '  I  have 
often  reflected  on  the  disappointment  of  that 
solitary  elector  who  cast  the  single  vote  against 
James  Monroe  for  the  Presidency  in  1820; 
no  one  seems  to  remember  his  name, '  although 
a  delver  in  the  chronicles  of  that  time  may 
no  doubt  discover  it  easily;  but  his  hope  of 
immortality  proved  to  be  delusive. 

1 1  believe  it  was  William  Plumer:  but  who  remembers  Plumer? 


Tllnreafc  Boohs 


There  is  a  certain  dignity  about  a  book 
which  has  been  read  by  only  two  or  three 
adventurous  beings ;  it  becomes  an  aristocratic 
sort  of  book,  unsullied  by  vulgar  popularity, 
but  like  many  aristocrats,  not  overburdened 
with  income.  Naturally,  books  which  boast 
no  readers  are  not  particularly  lucrative,  unless 
we  except  law  treatises,  which  are  said  to 
"pay,"  because  every  public  law-library  must 
have  a  copy  and  the  prices  are  tremendous. 
Views  differ  about  the  matter  of  writing  for 
pecuniary  profit.  Montaigne  declared  that 
"to  pretend  to  literature  for  the  sake  of  gain 
was  a  meanness  unworthy  the  grace  and  favour 
of  the  muses,"  which  is  consoling  to  the  unap- 
preciated. On  the  other  hand,  Doctor  John- 
son said  that  "no  man  but  a  blockhead  ever 
wrote  except  for  money."  This  judgment 
has  been  successfully  assailed  by  Professor 
Walter  Raleigh,  but  I  accept  it.  What  of  it? 
Johnson  wrote  much  but  gained  little  money. 
It  is  better  to  be  a  blockhead  and  write  for 
one's  own  amusement  than  it  is  to  be  a  wise 
man  and  to  write  only  for  money — and  not 
get  the  money. 


8       IRambles  in  Hutograpb  SLanfc 

Some  years  ago  I  read  in  an  English  peri- 
odical the  sage  and  indulgent  remark  that  "the 
love  of  collecting  autographs,  if  it  has  some- 
times been  pursued  without  much  taste  or 
meaning,  has  never  sunk  to  the  rank  of  a  mere 
mania,  like  the  tulip  mania  of  the  seventeenth 
and  the  postage-stamp  mania  of  the  nineteenth 
century."  This  is  indeed  gracious  and  con- 
descending. The  profound  observer  leaves 
us  uncertain  whether  the  "  love"  or  the  "col- 
lecting" is  "pursued";  but  we  should  be 
grateful  for  the  patronising  utterance.  Why 
do  we  collect  autographs?  Almost  every  col- 
lector can  give  peculiar  and  specific  reasons; 
I  could  give  a  number,  but  I  will  refrain  from 
advancing  more  than  one.  A  certain  al- 
leged reason  is  a  favourite  with  the  un- 
initiated and  it  is  fictitious.  Southey  touched 
upon  it,  when,  about  the  year  1814,  he 
wrote: 

Those  who  know  that  the  word  physiognomy  is  not 
derived  from  phiz,  and  infer  from  that  knowledge  that 
the  science  is  not  confined  to  the  visage  alone,  have 
extended  it  to  handwriting,  also,  and  hence  it  has 
become  fashionable  in  this  age  of  collectors  to  collect 
the  autographs  of  remarkable  persons. 


Tflnreab  ffioofes 


I  myself  have  never  encountered  an  auto- 
graph collector  who  cared  a  denarius  about 
a  comparison  of  handwritings,  or  who  accumu- 
lated his  treasures  in  order  to  study  character 
from  them.  The  head-hunter  of  Borneo  does 
not  gather  his  specimens  for  the  purpose  of 
studying  phrenology.  The  main  reason  why 
we  collect  is — that  we  enjoy  it. 
The  English  periodical  says: 

There  is  always  a  pleasure  in  contemplating  the 
handwriting  of  persons  whom  you  respect  or  admire, 
and  the  mind  is  led  insensibly  to  associate  certain 
characteristics  with  handwriting  from  reading  those 
same  characteristics  in  lives  or  faces. 

For  my  part,  I  am  convinced  that  there  is 
very  little  revelation  of  character  in  hand- 
writing. Our  English  friend  calls  attention 
to  the  "neat  hand  of  Rogers,"  as  "calm, 
laboured,  and  regular  as  his  poetry,"  and 
the  "scraggy,  sprawling  hand"  of  Byron, 
"as  uneven,  dashing,  and  unlovely  as  his  life;" 
the  fact  being  that  Rogers  was  brought  up  to 
business  and  Byron  was  never  brought  up  at  all. 
Indeed,  in  his  very  next  paragraph,  the  peri- 
odical man  admits  that  "there  are  many  kinds 


io      'Rambles  in  Hutograpb 


of  handwriting  which  do  not  accord  with  what 
we  know  of  their  authors."  There  are  so 
many  influences  which  affect  a  man's  penman- 
ship —  the  quality  of  the  paper,  ink,  and  pen, 
the  circumstances  under  which  he  writes, 
early  environment,  whether  he  is  hurried  or 
not,  the  occasion  for  writing.1  A  man  often 
imitates  in  boyhood  the  chirography  of  his 
father  or  of  some  admired  relative,  and  never 
changes  the  style  in  any  material  respect. 
The  feminine  quality  of  Mr.  Cleveland's 
handwriting  furnishes  no  guide  to  the  study 
of  his  nature.  Murat's  was  without  any 
ostentation;  Robespierre's  was  small  and  lady- 
like; Macaulay's  was  unformed,  straggling, 
and  slovenly.  John  Hancock  signed  the 
Declaration  in  a  big  bold  way  but  was  not 
famous  for  bravery;  Stephen  Hopkins's  hand 
trembled  as  he  wrote,  not  from  fright  but 
from  physical  infirmity.  Such  illustrations 
might  be  multiplied  almost  indefinitely. 
The  queer  observations  about  autograph 

1  Disraeli  was  right  when  he  wrote  to  an  applicant  for  an 
autograph:  "I  have  no  great  faith  in  the  theory  of  judging  of 
character  from  handwriting.  My  autograph  depends  upon  my 
pen,  which  is  at  present  a  very  bad  one." 


TUnreab  Boofcs  n 

collecting  made  by  men  of  education  and  of  a 
literary  disposition  are  often  irritating  and 
occasionally  amusing.  Mr.  Falconer  Madan, 
whose  gravity  is  appalling,  produced  a  book 
some  years  ago  called  Books  in  Manuscript 
in  which  he  imparted  to  us  this  gratifying 
information: 

The  collection  of  autograph  letters  has  a  great  and 
natural  attraction  for  many  persons.  Instead  of  a 
single  author's  works  in  manuscript,  the  collector  of 
autographs  obtains  specimens  of  the  handwriting  of 
any  number  of  celebrities  who  may  belong  to  a  period 
or  nation  or  class  in  which  he  is  specially  interested, 
or  may  represent  general  fame.  For  him  all  who  can 
write  are  authors,  and  his  ambition  is  to  obtain  an 
a.  I.  5.  (autograph  letter  signed)  or  at  least  a  signature 
of  all  who  come  within  the  scope  of  his  designs. 

This  is  not  what  we  should  expect  from  a  per- 
sonage who  admits  on  his  title-page  that  he  is 
an  M.  A.,  a  Fellow  of  Brazenose  College,  and 
Lecturer  on  Mediaeval  Paleography  in  the 
University  of  Oxford.  I  trust  that  he  knows 
more  about  mediaeval  paleography  than  he 
seems  to  know  about  autograph  collectors; 
perhaps  his  researches  in  that  fruitful  field 
were  too  laborious  to  permit  him  to  learn 


12      IRambles  in  Hutograpb 


what  an  autograph  collector  really  is.  We 
thank  you,  kind  sir,  but  we  do  not  regard  "all 
who  write  as  authors  "  ;  we  have  no  "ambition" 
for  a  mere  "signature,"  and  we  do  not  prefer 
an  author's  letter  to  a  manuscript  of  a  book  of 
his,  being  more  than  willing  to  surrender  even 
a  good  A.  L.  S.  of  Thackeray  or  of  Tennyson 
for,  let  us  say,  the  manuscript  of  Vanity  Fair 
or  of  In  Memoriam. 

William  Carew  Hazlitt  says  of  George 
Daniel,  that  he  "did  not  obey  the  ordinary 
instinct  of  a  collector  whose  zest  is  derived 
from  acquiring,  not  from  possessing."  It  is 
true  that  some  feel  more  delight  in  the  hunt- 
ing than  in  the  result  of  it,  but  that  is  not  an 
attribute  peciiliar  to  the  collector.  Sheridan 
confessed  to  Grenville  that  pursuit  always 
allured  him  rather  than  possession,  and  Van 
Brugh  in  The  Confederacy  makes  Clarissa  say: 
"I  always  know  what  I  lack,  but  I  am  never 
pleased  with  what  I  have.  The  want  of  a 
thing  is  perplexing  enough,  but  the  possession 
of  it  is  intolerable."  We  all  know  people  of 
that  disposition,  but  they  are  in  the  minority. 
This  Hazlitt,  very  self  -conceited  and  pain- 


Tflnreafc  Boohs  13 

fully  dull,  was  incapable  of  comprehending 
the  collector.  He  could  not  understand  how 
the  pleasure  of  the  search  and  the  enjoyment 
of  the  prize  itself  could  coexist.  Occasionally 
the  thing  acquired  may  be  a  disappointment 
and  the  fish  not  so  imposing  as  we  were  led 
to  anticipate  when  the  struggle  for  his  capture 
was  in  progress,  but  it  is  absurd  to  found  a 
generalisation  on  such  isolated  cases. 

Fortunately,  all  people  do  not  find  pleasure 
in  the  same  things,  and  sometimes  one  man's 
fancies  are  regarded  with  scornful  contempt  by 
other  men  who  doubtless  have  hobbies  of 
their  own.  It  has  been  my  lot  to  elicit  sneers, 
particularly  from  the  intellectual  giants  who 
"do"  the  book-notices  for  Western  news- 
papers, and  to  receive  some  acrid  criticism 
from  people  nearer  home,  because  I  like  to 
write  and  to  chat  about  what  are  called 
"autographs."  To  a  certain  order  of  mind 
the  fondness  for  autographs  seems  childish, 
inane,  puerile  to  the  last  degree.  Persons 
who  are  afflicted  with  that  kind  of  mind  think 
that  the  pursuit  of  gathering  autographs — 
and  they  make  no  distinction  between  sig- 


H      IRambles  in  Hutograpb  SLanb 

natures,  manuscripts,  letters,  or  historical 
documents — is  as  senseless  as  the  collecting 
of  paper-dolls  or  of  postcards.  As  Doctor 
George  Birkbeck  Hill  says:  "To  many  people 
the  word  'autograph'  means  nothing  more 
than  the  signature  of  a  man  more  or  less 
eminent.  A  collection  of  autographs  they 
regard  as  only  a  collection  of  signatures." 
Usually  this  mental  attitude  is  the  result  of 
defective  education  or  of  imperfect  informa- 
tion, and  one  cannot  help  feeling  compassion 
for  the  victims,  who  are  themselves  inno- 
cent enough  in  their  folly  and  suffer  from 
ignorance  for  which  personally  they  are  little 
to  blame. 

Scott  and  Davey,  in  their  preternaturally 
solemn  Guide  to  the  Collector,  are  very  serious 
about  this  subject.  They  say: 

The  beginner  must,  however,  cast  aside  many  er- 
roneous ideas  concerning  autographs,  some  of  which 
are  very  common  and  have  been  long  sanctioned  by 
fashion.  In  the  first  place,  he  must  learn  to  regard  as 
valueless  mere  signatures  of  individuals  cut  out  from 
letters  or  documents ;  for  with  few  and  rare  exceptions, 
such  are  never*  admitted  into  the  portfolio  of  the 
collector. 


THnreab  Books  15 

Signatures  not  "cut  out"  but  written  by  re- 
quest may  be  a  little  better,  but  the  principle 
is  the  same. 

When  the  world  has  once  made  up  its  mind 
to  be  wrong  on  any  subject,  particularly  one 
which  is  merely  literary  or  aesthetic,  no  amount 
of  written  or  printed  remonstrance  will  con- 
vince it  of  its  error.  You  may  now  and  then 
effect  a  temporary  lodgment  in  the  mind  of 
some  isolated  individual,  but  the  people  who 
think  about  it  at  all — there  are  not  many — 
will  struggle  through  life  under  the  delusion 
that  "signatures"  are  the  be-all  and  end-all 
of  the  collector's  existence.  I  know  an  emi- 
nent American  collector  whose  feelings  have 
been  so  wrought  upon  by  this  popular  mis- 
apprehension that  he  would  never  attempt  to 
make  up  a  set  of  "The  Signers"  because  he 
could  not  secure  anything  but  a  signature  in 
the  case  of  Thomas  Lynch,  Jr. 

Ours  is  a  new  civilisation  in  this  country 
and  the  material  things  appeal  most  to  the 
multitude.  It  may  be  a  more  beneficial  and 
progressive  civilisation  than  that  of  England, 
but  we  do  not  find  there  such  conspicu- 


16      IRambles  in  Butograpb 


ous  manifestations  of  defective  culture.  For 
many  reasons  England  is  not,  at  least  for  an 
American,  so  pleasant  a  land  to  live  in  as  ours, 
but  one  finds  there  more  tolerance  for  the 
autograph  lover  than  in  this  land  of  "triumph- 
ant democracy." 

An  excellent  example  of  an  English  collector 
was  William  Upcott,  who  collected  many 
things,  but  gained  less  fame  for  his  coins  and 
prints  than  for  his  autograph  letters  and 
documents.  He  called  his  house,  No.  102 
Upper  Street,  Islington,  "Autograph  Cottage," 
and  when  he  died  in  1845  he  left  thirty-two 
thousand  specimens,  comprising  papers  by 
which,  says  Doctor  Scott,  "the  history  of  a 
large  portion  of  Europe  during  several  cen- 
turies might  have  been  illuminated."  This 
collection  was  sold  in  1846  (not  in  1836,  as 
Scott  says)  and  most  of  it  was  acquired  by 
the  British  Museum.  There  was  also  Dawson 
Turner,  the  botanist,  who  not  only  had  over 
forty  thousand  letters,  besides  illuminated 
manuscripts  and  important  documents  which 
were  sold  in  1859,  but  one  hundred  and  fifty 
volumes  of  manuscripts  and  letters  which 


TUnreafc  Boofcs  17 

were  disposed  of  in  1853,   five   years   before 
his  death. 

In  the  "collection"  there  is  a  letter  of 
Turner's,  concerning  the  recent  death  of 
Upcott  and  enclosing  a  drawing  by  Turner's 
daughter: 

DEAR  SIR — 

When  a  man  has  little  to  give  he  must  be  allowed 
to  act  wisely  in  following  the  old  Latin  Proverb  & 
by  giving  that  little  quickly  endeavour  to  stamp  it 
with  an  artificial  value  to  which  it  would  intrinsically 
have  no  claim.  With  this  feeling  I  lose  no  time  in 
sending  you  my  daughter's  drawing  of  our  late  friend 
&  apprehending  you  may  possibly  have  his  catalogue 
or  some  other  of  his  publications  in  which  you  may 
like  to  insert  it,  I  add  a  duplicate  copy.  For  myself, 
the  dressing  up  of  my  books  with  portraits  &  auto- 
graphs has  always  been  a  pleasure  to  me.  I  have 
thought  I  could  read  a  volume  with  more  satisfaction 
&  feel  myself  to  a  certain  degree  personally  ac- 
quainted with  the  author,  if  I  knew  how  he  looked 
&  what  sort  of  a  hand  he  wrote.  In  this  particular 
therefore  I  trust  I  may  have  the  opportunity  of  amus- 
ing you  when  you  favour  me  with  a  visit  here,  which 
you  must  do,  now  Yarmouth  is  brought  within  7 
hours  of  London.  But  three  years  ago,  &  the  journey 
occupied  1 8.  I  can  show  you  nothing  like  the  collec- 
tion that  you  &  I  have  seen  at  Islington — perhaps 
not  one  third  in  point  of  quantity  &  still  less  in  re- 
lation to  rarity  &  curiosity;  but  I  have  the  vanity  to 


1  8      1RambIe0  in  Hutograpb 


believe  I  can  very  much  make  amends  by  superiority 
of  arrangement,  without  which  all  other  considera- 
tions lose  half  their  worth.  Of  poor  Upcott  I  suppose 
we  shall  now  hear  little  or  nothing  further  till  his 
shelves  &  cupboards  &  boxes  are  emptied  &  Sothe- 
by's or  Evans'  or  Fletcher's  catalogue  gives  us  some 
notion  of  their  contents.  I  say  "some  notion,"  & 
I  use  the  phrase  advisedly;  for  to  estimate  them 
aright  required  that  singular  knowledge  &  power  of 
words  which  I  never  knew  any  other  person  possess  in 
an  equal  degree.  Were  I  to  be  called  to  Town,  I 
wd  certainly  go  to  his  late  residence,  where  I  hope  I 
might  see  his  cousin  ;  &  she,  I  am  persuaded,  would  be 
glad  to  speak  to  me  in  a  manner  the  most  confiden- 
tial. Her  bearing,  as  far  as  I  have  seen,  was  always 
respectable  &  respectful:  &  I  shd  be  glad  to  find 
she  was  able  to  establish  by  relationship  any  right  to 
what  he  has  left  behind  him.  The  testamentary  dis- 
position in  favour  of  Miss  Berry  I  presume  is  not  in- 
vested with  the  forms  requisite  to  make  it  legal. 

I  am,  my  dear  sir,  your  much  obliged  &  faithful 

DAWSON  TURNER. 

YARMOUTH,  6  Octr.,  1845. 

In  thinking,  with  wonder,  about  these  enor- 
mous collections  of  Englishmen,  we  Ameri- 
cans must  remember  that  there  must  have 
been  many  included  in  them  which  would  not 
arouse  our  cupidity.  A  writer  in  a  magazine 
forty  years  ago  says  that  as  a  collector  he  had 
"  carefully  examined  whole  volumes  of  Up- 


Tanrea^  Boohs  19 

cottian  Dukes,  Marquises,  Earls,  and  Lords, 
arranged  in  perfect  autographic  order,  without 
finding  a  specimen  worthy  of  a  place  in  an 
American  collection,  and  had  seen  without 
emotion  such  volumes  knocked  down  for 
little  more  than  the  price  of  the  binding." 
Such  uninteresting  accumulations  are  as  un- 
attractive to  us  as  a  gathering  of  the  autographs 
of  American  Congressmen  would  be  to  an 
Englishman — and  I  can  scarcely  conceive  of 
anything  more  unattractive  than  that. 

Doctor  Raffles  of  Liverpool  was  another 
famous  amateur,  who  had  the  first  draft  of 
the  hymn  "From  Greenland's  icy  mountains," 
and  a  complete  set  of  the  Signers  of  the  De- 
claration of  Independence,  as  well  as  Burke's 
notes  for  his  speech  against  Warren  Hastings. 
Mr.  Alfred  Morrison's  collection  almost  defies 
description.  The  sales  catalogues  of  the 
Sotheby  house,  issued  at  intervals,  reveal  the 
existence  of  many  others  who  add  dignity  to 
the  pursuit.  We  have  been  increasing  in 
numbers  in  the  United  States,  although  prices 
have  grown  to  such  an  extent  that  only  a  man 
of  wealth  can  afford  to  buy  the  best,  and  com- 


20      IRambles  in  Butograpb  %anfc 

paratively  few  of  our  men  of  wealth  have  the 
time  or  the  disposition  to  become  collectors 
of  autographs. 

But  even  Englishmen,  and  distinguished 
ones  at  that,  sometimes  feel  it  incumbent 
upon  them  to  cast  opprobrium  upon  the  au- 
tograph lover.  Goldwin  Smith,  for  example, 
who  was  a  sort  of  self-exiled  Englishman,  in 
his  sketch  of  "Social  Life  in  London,"  re- 
fers to  Richard  Monckton  Milnes  as  "a  great 
and  most  successful  collector  of  autographs," 
but  cannot  refrain  from  adding,  "To  a  col- 
lector of  autographs  everything  is  moral." 
This  silly  generalisation  is  vouchsafed  to  us 
merely  because  Lord  Houghton  did  not  answer 
an  inquiry  as  to  how  he  obtained  a  certain 
paper  signed  by  General  Grant  in  his  cadet 
days.  The  question  was  impudent,  and 
Smith  might  as  well  have  asked  Milnes  how 
he  obtained  the  watch  in  his  pocket.  It  was 
none  of  Smith's  business,  and  the  omission 
to  reply  to  his  insolent  query  was  wholly 
justifiable.  Smith's  absurd  conclusion  that 
the  paper  must  have  been  obtained  by  dis- 
creditable means  is  a  characteristic  manifesta- 


Tflnreafc  Boofes  21 

tion  of  one  of  those  qualities  which  rendered 
it  advisable  for  the  person  who  announced  it 
to  become  a  resident  of  Canada.  It  is  as 
gratuitously  false  as  it  would  be  to  say  that  all 
ex-professors  of  Oxford  are  cads.  Mr.  Smith 
simply  thought  it  smart  to  bestow  a  kick  on 
autograph  collectors;  Milnes  was  dead  and 
there  was  therefore  no  opportunity  for  a 
rejoinder. 

I  fear  that  autograph  lovers  are  often  mis- 
judged because  there  are  a  few  who  pretend 
to  belong  to  their  ranks,  mere  impostors,  who 
bring  discredit  upon  the  true  disciples  of  the 
cult :  and  unluckily,  these  reprobates  appear  to 
gain  easiest  access  to  the  columns  of  the  press, 
as  charlatans,  political  or  otherwise,  frequently 
do.  Take  for  example  this  paragraph  which 
I  found  some  time  ago  in  a  reputable  news- 
paper of  New  York,  which  contains  more 
abomination  than  I  ever  saw  compressed  in 
so  small  a  space. 

If  a  certain  individual  in  London,  who  styles 
himself  "the  autograph  king  of  England"  ever  wants 
to  become  an  international  forger,  he  has  a  fine  stock 
in  trade  to  start  with.  Mr.  B proudly  boasts  that 


he  has  five  thousand  signatures  of  great  and  near- 
great  people,  the  list  including  the  Queen  of  Roumania, 
the  Pope,  ex-President  Roosevelt,  Admiral  Togo,  Mr. 
Asquith,  Mr.  Balfour,  Lord  Roberts,  Sir  Hector 
Macdonald,  Sir  Henry  Irving,  Dr.  Jameson,  and  Lord 
Salisbury.  "One  of  the  features  of  my  collection," 
he  says,  "is  that  no  influence  has  been  used  to  obtain 
a  single  autograph.  Every  one  has  been  gained  by 
perseverance  and  the  originality  of  my  request." 


An  "autograph  king"  with  five  thousand 
signatures!  Heaven  save  the  mark !  A  money 
king  with  five  thousand  brass  farthings  would 
be  a  Croesus  beside  him.  Words  fail  to 
describe  the  appalling  insignificance  of  a 
"collector"  with  a  lot  of  signatures  obtained 
by  request,  whether  original  or  not.  For  a 
few  pennies  he  could  procure  from  a  dealer 
signatures  of  every  one  of  the  people  whose 
names  he  gives.  One  well-known  dealer  in 
New  York  advertises  that  he  will  send  fifty 
good  ones  for  a  dollar.  The  declaration  that 
"one  of  the  features"  of  this  remarkable 
mass  of  rubbish  is  that  "no  influence  was  used" 
to  obtain  any  signature,  reminds  us  of  M. 
Prud'  homme,  who,  when  a  cane — I  think  it 
was  a  cane — was  given  to  him  by  some  ad- 


Tflnreab  Boofcs  23 

mirers,  began  his  speech  of  thanks  by  saying: 
"This  cane  is  the  proudest  day  of  my  life." 

The  mere  fact  that  the  royal  B "proudly 

boasts  "  is  enough  to  betray  his  lack  of  genuine- 
ness. The  true  collector  never  boasts;  he 
may  chuckle  mildly  now  and  then  over  some 
unusual  letter  or  document,  but  he  is  far  too 
dignified  to  "boast,"  which  is  vulgar.  Yet 
there  are  credulous  beings  who  read  these 
rigmaroles  in  their  morning  paper,  and  upon 
them  form  their  erroneous  opinions  of  the 
autograph  collector.  I  pass  by  without  com- 
ment the  absurd  suggestion  about  "an  inter- 
national forger. "  It  is  too  cheap  and  common 
a  slur  to  deserve  notice.  Our  newspaper 
people  have  grown  so  fond  of  spelling  crime 
out  of  everything  that  they  would  detect  it 
in  a  Convocation  of  Bishops.  Where  auto- 
graphs are  concerned  they  do  not  exhibit 
their  customary  wisdom;  that  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at,  for  they  have  so  many  other  and 
more  weighty  and  criminal  matters  to  consider 
that  the  subject  of  autographs  must  appear 
to  them  to  be  trifling.  Charged  as  they  are 
with  the  responsibility  of  regulating  the 


24      IRambles  in  Hutograpb  ILanfc 

affairs  of  the  nation  and  the  morals  of  the 
people,  they  cannot  waste  much  effort  on 
autographs. 

The  daily  newspaper  is  a  veritable  Warwick 
and  is  constantly  setting  up  a  new  autograph 
king,  usually  a  gentleman  with  an  album  of 
signatures.  Since  the  coronation  of  B ,  an- 
other has  been  elevated  to  the  throne,  which 
is  growing  overcrowded.  On  July  I,  1912, 
a  clever  New  York  journal  devoted  nearly  a 

column  to  the  royal  career  of  one  L B 

of  Berlin,  "the  most  indefatigable  autograph 
collector  in  the  world";  all  newspaper  heroes 
are  "the  most" — whatever  it  may  be — in  the 
world.  If  a  man  dies  in  what  used  to  be 
known  as  "the  Annexed  District,"  the  obit- 
uary notice  proclaims  that  he  was  "the 
oldest  scissors-grinder"  or  "most  extensive 
cat's-meat  purveyor"  in  the  Bronx.  We  are 
informed  that  the  royal  German  is  "coming 
to  London,"  having  "spent  over  $50,000  on 
his  hobby"  and  "travelled  all  over  the  world 
to  secure  desired  signatures" — in  the  Desert 
of  Sahara  and  the  rubber  country  of  the 
Amazon  perhaps.  The  fruits  of  his  gigantic 


TUnreafc  IBoofes  25 

labours  are  all  contained  in  a  "little  fat  volume 
bound  in  red  cloth."  We  are  further  told 
that  "Prince  Roland  Bonaparte  has  called 

L B the  king  of  autograph  collectors." 

The  habit  of  making  dubious  kings  seems  to  run 

in  the  Bonaparte  family.     L B need 

not  have  paid  so  much  for  his  crown;  for 
$50,000  he  should  have  been  able  to  procure  at 
least  five  hundred  thousand  signatures,  and 
fifty  thousand  ought  to  be  enough  to  make 
a  newspaper  autograph  king  of  him. 

In  one  of  the  best  morning  journals  of  New 
York  I  found  recently — in  the  editorial  de- 
partment too — this  deliverance: 

At  a  current  sale  of  autograph  letters  and  manu- 
scripts in  London  the  prices  range  pretty  low — a  lot 
of  letters,  for  instance,  from  Queen  Victoria,  the 
Duchess  of  Gloucester,  the  Duke  of  Wellington, 
Bulwer  Lytton,  Charles  Dickens,  John  Ruskin,  and 
Mrs.  Siddons,  with  signatures  of  Prince  Albert  and 
Sir  Walter  Scott,  went  for  fifty  dollars. 

On  the  other  hand,  at  a  Paris  auction,  the  jewelled 
ornaments  and  coffee  cup  stands  of  the  Sultan  Abdul 
Hamid  were  contended  for  with  much  spirit  and  long 
purses.  Can  it  be  that  the  interest  in  polite  letters 
is  being  slowly  but  surely  submerged  in  the  rising 
tide  of  interest  in  jewels  representing  cold  cash?  You 
can't  wear  an  autograph  letter  as  a  pendant;  the  MS. 


26      IRambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanb 

of  Vanity  Fair  or  Paradise  Lost,  even,  would  n't  look 
like  a  sable  coat.  Emeralds  and  rubies  and  pearls, 
these  are  the  enduring  treasures  sought  by  the  modern 
"collector." 

I  question  the  writer's  facts.  As  to  the 
sale  of  "  a  lot  of  letters  "  at  the  price  mentioned, 
I  think  the  writer  must  have  been  grossly 
misinformed,  or  he  mixed  up  pounds  and 
dollars.  Granting  that  there  was  a  sale  of 
autographs  at  that  price, — which  is  not  likely, 
in  London,  where  in  the  last  year  or  two  prices 
have  soared  unreasonably, — they  could  not 
have  been  real  letters.  "Letters"  of  Queen 
Victoria,  Charles  Dickens,  Mrs.  Siddons,  and 
the  Duke  of  Wellington  are  not  put  up  for 
sale,  together,  in  one  lot.  A  letter  of  Mrs. 
Siddons  would  bring  at  least  half  the  amount 
mentioned.  I  was  obliged  to  pay  five  guineas 
for  this  one  of  hers  written  to  George  Hardinge, 
the  lawyer  and  author.  It  is  not  dated. 

MY  DEAR  MR.  HARDINGE,  I  [  saw]  Lord  Fosbrook 
again  last  night  and  he  seem'd  to  say  that  you  shod 
have  a  box  let  who  wd  go  without.  I  will  certainly 
use  all  my  interest  with  Mr.  Linley  but  I  fear  I  have 
no  great  influence  there — had  I  not  been  distracted 
with  ten  thousand  different  things  I  wou'd  have  sent 
my  sweet  Mrs.  H.  a  million  of  thanks  for  her  kind 


THnreab  Books  27 

letter  but  I  am  stark  mad  and  my  soul  grows  sick  with 
trouble.  I  have  found  an  opportunity  however  of  get- 
ing  thro'  allmost  all  your  defence  of  Lord  Camelford.  I 
never  was  more  interested  in  my  life  but  what  grati- 
fication can  all  that  a  poor  ignorant  woman  can  say 
in  your  praise  give  you  who  must  have  receiv'd  the 
highest  encomiums  from  the  good,  the  wise  and  the 
great,  none  of  whom  however  can  in  good  will  excell 
yr  S.  Sid. 

Give  my  love  to  my  dear  Mrs.  H.  and  God  bless 
you  both. 

The  lady  was  theatrically  profuse  in  super- 
latives but  sparing  in  her  signature,  which 
seems  inappropriate  to  the  Tragic  Muse. 

If  the  things  which  "fetched"  fifty  dollars 
were  "letters"  they  must  have  been  in 
amazingly  bad  condition,  of  no  intrinsic  in- 
terest, or  mere  "album  specimens"  which 
are  of  small  account.  They  may  have  been 
of  doubtful  authenticity.  But  I  am  inclined 
to  adopt  my  original  hypothesis;  in  all  prob- 
ability the  tale  is  best  described  by  the  "short, 
ugly  word"  which  has  become  almost  sacred 
to  Presidential  or  ex-Presidential  uses.  It 
was  evidently  "lugged  in"  as  a  text  for  the 
journalistically  profound  reflections  contained 
in  the  closing  portion  of  the  paragraph. 


CHAPTER  II 

FACSIMILES   AND   FORGERIES 

The  Price  Question — Apologies  of  Collectors — Facsimiles  and 
Forgeries — The  Milton  Receipts — How  do  you  Know  it  is 
Genuine? — George  Birkbeck  Hill's  Forged  Washington — 
The  Case  of  Robert  Spring — Vrain-Lucas — Sir  David 
Brewster's  letter  on  Newton. 

THE  reference  to  prices  leads  me  to  confess 
that  there  is  one  occasional  weakness  of  a 
collector  which  gives  me  a  little  twinge  of 
pain;  his  disposition  to  dwell  upon  the  cost 
and  the  market  value  of  the  letter  or  manu- 
script. In  my  humble  judgment,  it  takes 
away  much  of  the  charm  and  sentiment  of  col- 
lecting and  destroys  true  enjoyment.  Others 
may  not  so  regard  it;  they  may  consider  that 
the  payment  of  a  large  sum  for  a  choice 
specimen  is  a  badge  of  distinction,  and  the 
fact  that  some  one  else  is  willing  to  give  for  it 

a  larger  sum  furnishes  a  measure  of  its  rarity 

28 


jfacsimiles  anfc  jforgeries        29 

and  value;  they  feel  like  the  millionaire 
who  lavishes  thousands  in  the  purchase  of  a 
Mazarin  Bible,  and  has  the  glory  of  owning 
one  of  the  most  expensive  books  in  the  world. 
More  commonly,  however,  the  pride  is  in  the 
thought  of  having  made  a  shrewd  bargain,  for 
collectors  are  more  inclined  to  boast  of  having 
paid  a  small  price  for  a  valuable  autograph 
than  of  having  paid  a  large  one.  But  there  is 
an  element  of  the  sordid  about  it  all,  and 
while  I  have  no  intention  of  parading  my 
egotism  or  of  bragging  about  my  own  tran- 
scendent virtues,  I  assert  that  I  seldom  keep 
any  record  of  what  a  letter  or  a  manuscript 
cost  me,  and  have  no  idea  what  it  will  "fetch " 
at  the  auction  sale,  which  will  concern  my 
executors  far  more  than  it  will  ever  concern 
me.  Naturally,  it  is  otherwise  with  those  who 
are  engaged  in  the  business  of  dealing  in 
autographs.  To  these,  of  course,  autographs 
are  articles  of  commerce,  but  it  is  strange  to 
me  that  a  professed  lover  of  them  can  so  look 
upon  them.  I  referred  to  the  money  value  of 
the  bogus  "king's"  signatures  merely  to  show 
how  easy  it  is  to  make  a  "collection"  of  them 


30      IRambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanb 

without  self-humiliation  and  the  pestering  of 
notable  personages. 

According  to  my  way  of  thinking,  compari- 
son and  discussion  of  prices  is  one  of  the  draw- 
backs to  the  enjoyment  of  the  genial  Mr. 
Broadley's  Chats  on  Autographs.  Few  of  us 
care  much  about  other  people's  bargains;  and 
after  a  little  time  the  old  prices  afford  no 
criterion  for  estimating  market  values.  An 
experience  of  over  twenty-five  years  has 
convinced  me  that  it  is  impossible  to  find  any 
standard  in  such  matters.  Many  amateurs 
have  puzzled  me  sorely  by  submitting  letters 
and  asking  me  to  tell  them  what  they  ought 
to  bring.  Of  course,  the  answer  must  be  a 
mere  approximation.  One  may  safely  say 
that  an  A.  L.  S.  of  George  is  worth  more 
than  an  L.  S.  of  Booker  T.,  and  a  Thomas 
Lynch,  Jr.,  more  than  a  Robert  Morris.  But  as 
a  rule,  the  price  will  depend  a  good  deal  on  the 
anxiety  of  the  buyer  or  the  necessity  of  the  seller. 

I  do  not  know  why  I  should  follow  the 
example  of  almost  all  those  who  write  about 
autographs — offer  excuses  for  the  collector  and 
confess  some  of  his  failings.  Let  the  poor 


facsimiles  anb  forgeries        31 

creature  who  attacks  us  formulate  his  charges 
and  produce  his  evidence  before  we  put  in  our 
defence.  After  all,  who  is  to  decide  the  case? 
Certainly  not  the  prosecutors,  and  no  one 
expects  to  convince  them.  To  the  multitude, 
who  know  little  and  care  less  about  the  whole 
subject,  there  is  not  much  use  in  offering 
argument.  I  suppose  that  we  who  are  of  the 
brotherhood  indulge  in  this  sort  of  mingled 
apology,  protest,  and  lamentation  merely  for 
one  another's  comfort  and  consolation.  If 
people  generally  will  not  tell  us  what  fine 
fellows  we  are,  we  can  at  least  tell  one  another 
so,  and  gain  thereby  about  as  much  profit  as 
we  would  if  we  had  won  over  the  populace. 
There  is,  however,  one  of  our  number  who 
preserves  a  cheery  optimism.  Mr.  Broadley, 
in  his  Chats  on  Autographs,  is  never  on  the 
defensive;  he  glories  in  his  "fad"  and  rides 
triumphantly  over  the  prostrate  bodies  of  those 
who  dare  meet  his  conquering  lance. 

One  danger  we  are  all  of  us  liable  to  run, 
but  not  so  often  as  one  might  suppose,  and 
even  that  is  to  be  feared  only  by  the  careless  or 
the  inexperienced.  I  mean  the  danger  of 


32      IRambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanfc 

being  deceived  by  facsimiles  and  by  cleverly 
executed  forgeries.  As  to  facsimiles,  the  eru- 
dite collector  may  laugh,  saying  that  only  a 
mere  tyro  can  be  misled  by  one.  I  have  been 
"collecting"  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  and  I 
flattered  myself  that  I  was  no  longer  a  novice. 
Yet  it  was  only  a  year  ago  that,  on  casually 
examining  a  copy  of  the  Letters  of  Lord 
Chesterfield  in  my  library,  I  found,  carefully 
pasted  on  a  cut  flyleaf  in  the  very  beginning 
of  the  book,  a  letter  in  the  unmistakable 
chirography  of  the  noble  Lord.  As  the  cut- 
ting and  the  pasting  looked  like  my  own  work, 
and  as  the  letter  itself  had  the  appearance  of 
an  original,  I  thought  that  I  must  have  in- 
serted it  at  a  time  when  I  was  afflicted  with 
the  mania  of  adding  autographs  to  my  books, 
although  I  wondered  that  I  had  been  guilty  of 
thus  misusing  so  valuable  a  letter.  I  decided 
to  remove  it  from  the  volume,  but  on  examin- 
ing the  table  of  contents  I  was  led  to  the 
painful  discovery  that  my  letter  was  only  a 
facsimile  and  one  of  the  illustrations  of  the 
very  book  I  was  handling.  If  I  had  been 
buying  the  letter  I  should  have  detected  its 


facsimiles  anb  forgeries        33 

true  character  by  feeling  the  surface,  especially 
the  address,  where  the  reproduction  of  the 
broken  seal  was  palpably  facsimile  work; 
at  least  I  flatter  myself  to  that  extent.  It  was 
a  humiliating  experience. 

Quite  frequently  an  innocent  purchaser  is 
misled  by  facsimiles  given  by  old  magazines, 
for  they  have  a  deceptive  appearance  of  age 
and  are  generally  very  well  executed.  Doctor 
Scott  furnishes  an  example  in  the  famous 
Milton  receipts,  one  for  £5,  on  account  of  the 
copyright  of  Paradise  Lost,  and  one  by  Milton's 
widow  for  £8  in  payment  for  her  interest  in 
that  copyright.  It  seems  that  facsimiles 
were  published  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine 
for  July,  1822.  What  purported  to  be  the 
Milton  receipt  was  found  in  the  manuscripts 
of  Mr.  Dawson  Turner,  and  was  sold  by 
Puttick  &  Simpson  in  1859,  for  the  respectable 
sum  of  £46  15.,  to  an  American.  It  had  the 
hallmark  afforded  by  the  fact  that  it  came 
from  a  famous  collection.  Doctor  Scott 
leaves  us  in  doubt,  however,  about  the  true 
genesis  of  this  spurious  paper.  He  says,  at 
first,  that  the  original  was  "borrowed  from  Sir 

3 


34      IRambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanfc 

Thomas  Cullum"  by  Mr.  Turner  and  that  a 
copy  was  traced  from  this  original  by  Turner's 
sister,  a  thing,  he  adds,  which  "any  amateur 
would  naturally  have  done";  but  I  question 
the  truth  of  that  assertion.  A  page  further  on 
he  refers  to  the  magazine  facsimiles  and 
observes  that  "by  comparing  them  with  the 
Dawson  Turner  tracings,  it  was  at  once  evi- 
dent that  they  were  the  sources  whence  Mr. 
Turner  had  taken  his  copies."  If  so,  what 
becomes  of  the  tale  about  borrowing  the 
originals  from  Sir  Thomas  Cullum?  How- 
ever, either  story  contains  a  warning.  When- 
ever I  discover  a  facsimile  or  a  copy  among 
my  humble  belongings,  I  put  a  mark  upon  it 
so  that,  however  unimportant  it  may  be,  in 
comparison  with  a  Milton  document,  no  one 
can  be  mistaken  about  it. 

Considering  the  disposition  of  innocent 
buyers  to  accept  copies  as  originals,  I  think 
that  all  facsimiles,  which  are  at  all  likely  to 
be  deceptive,  should  be  branded  in  some  such 
way  as  publishers  are  accustomed  to  employ 
now  to  deface  the  copies  of  prints  given  in 
their  portrait  catalogues. 


facsimiles  anb  jforgeries        35 

Mr.  Broadley  has  an  interesting  chapter  on 
forgeries  and  Scott  devotes  many  pages  to 
that  subject.  The  non-collector  is  fond  of 
asking,  "How  do  you  know  it  is  genuine?" 
There  are  many  answers  to  that  question,  so 
many  that  I  shall  not  attempt  to  give  them 
here.  One  may  be  reasonably  sure  that  the 
danger  of  forgery  is  ordinarily  limited  to  cases 
of  rare,  important,  and  expensive  letters  and 
manuscripts,  although  the  forger  finds  a 
fruitful  field  in  brief  inscriptions  and  signa- 
tures in  old  books.  If  you  do  not  have  the 
training  and  experience  necessary  to  deter- 
mine their  genuineness,  or  the  requisite  time 
to  study  ink,  paper,  water-marks,  documents 
of  admitted  authenticity,  and  the  like,  you 
must  trust  to  the  expert  and  reputable  dealer, 
who  is  scrupulously  careful  in  such  matters, 
although  sometimes  innocently  led  into  error 
as  in  the  case  of  the  Milton  receipt. 

Dr.  George  Birkbeck  Hill,  in  his  interesting 
Talks  About  Autographs,  unconsciously  dis- 
closes the  fact  that  he  was  the  unsuspecting 
victim  of  a  forgery.  He  laments  that  he  had 
but  two  American  autographs,  one,  however, 


36      "Rambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanb 

being  that  of  George  Washington.  "In  my 
earliest  childhood,"  said  the  scholarly  Eng- 
lishman, "my  father  instilled  into  me  such  a 
veneration  of  that  great  man,  that,  when  I  was 
a  schoolboy  of  the  age  of  eight  or  nine,  I  once 
angered  my  little  comrades  by  crying  out, 
'I  wish  I  was  an  American,  for  then  I  should 
be  a  countryman  of  George  Washington." 
Then  he  gives  us  the  text  of  his  Washington 
autograph  in  full,  an  order  for  the  payment  of 
money,  "but"  he  adds,  "it  is  all  in  Washing- 
ton's hand  and  is  the  more  interesting  as  it 
was  written  in  the  last  year  of  his  life."  So 
pleased  with  it  is  the  good  doctor  that  he 
presents  a  facsimile.  Any  expert  will  see  at 
once  that  it  is  the  reproduction  of  a  forgery. 
The  signature  of  Washington  was  invariably 
bold  and  firm,  but  this  one  is  wavering  and 
uncertain.  There  is  an  angularity  about  the 
letters  of  the  document  which  is  absent  in 
the  genuine  writings,  where  the  letters  are 
well  rounded.  In  fact,  it  is  exactly  like  many 
of  the  Washington  cheques  forged  by  the 
noted  Robert  Spring,  who  achieved  dishonour- 
able fame  enough  to  be  included  in  Apple- 


facsimiles  anfc  forgeries         37 

ton's  Cyclopcedia  of  American  Biography.  Mr. 
Bowden,  Mr.  Burns,  and  Mr.  Benjamin,  three 
well-known  experts  in  New  York,  pronounced 
it  spurious  at  a  glance.  But  Dr.  Hill  died 
without  knowing  of  the  imposition  and  per- 
haps there  was  no  great  harm  done.  At  all 
events  he  paid  nothing  for  it ;  as  he  says,  he 
never  bought  an  autograph. 

Spring  was  a  notorious  character  and  some 
time  I  hope  to  see  a  full  account  of  his  forgeries. 
It  will  make  an  interesting  chapter  in  auto- 
graphiana.  Something  about  him  was  pub- 
lished in  the  Collector  of  April,  1912,  and  also 
in  the  American  Antiquarian  Magazine  of 
May,  1888.  He  was  tried  in  Philadelphia,  for 
the  offence  of  selling  forged  autographs  of 
Washington,  Franklin,  Jefferson,  and  other 
American  worthies.  His  method  was  to  get 
possession  of  genuine  letters  and  trace  them  on 
old  paper  cut  from  contemporary  books,  or 
to  stain  the  paper  with  coffee-grounds.  He 
transferred  the  field  of  his  operations  to 
Canada,  where,  assuming  the  alias  of  "Emma 
Harding,"  he  was  quite  successful.  Thence 
he  went  South,  where  he  took  the  name  of 


38      IRambles  in  Hutograpb 


"Fanny  Jackson,"  an  alleged  daughter  of 
Stonewall  Jackson,  but  his  business  there  was 
unprofitable  and  he  betook  himself  to  England. 
He  was  in  due  course  detected  and  convicted. 
"His  plea  before  the  Court,  "  says  Scott,  "was 
the  usual  one  of  all  autograph  forgers  —  that 
he  was  doing  no  harm  to  any  one,  and  indeed 
never  had  done  a  dishonourable  action  in  his 
life,  and  only  imagined  he  was  innocently 
contributing  to  the  gratification  of  the  amiable 
weakness  of  those  who  are  fond  of  autographs." 
I  do  not  know  how  such  a  defence  was  re- 
garded by  an  English  court,  but  it  is  very 
much  like  old  Bob  Hart's  plea  of  self-defence 
when  accused  of  killing  a  sheep.  However 
efficacious  it  was,  Spring  somehow  returned 
to  Philadelphia,  where,  the  inmate  of  a  hospital, 
he  died  in  poverty  in  1876. 

The  works  of  Mr.  Spring  are  encountered 
from  time  to  time,  for  no  one  ever  feels  dis- 
posed to  destroy  even  a  suspected  autograph, 
but  Washington  cheques  and  other  small 
Washington  documents  are  regarded  by  the 
wary  as  unworthy  of  absolute  confidence. 
A  gentleman  in  Massachusetts,  who  combines 


facsimiles  anb  forgeries        39 


a  taste  for  autographs  with  a  lively  sense  of 
humour,  recently  related  to  me  the  tale  of  his 
Spring  experience.  Some  years  ago,  in  a 
casual  shop  in  Boston,  he  found  a  "George 
Washington, ' '  the  text  of  which  read :  ' '  Head- 
quarters, Bergen  County,  Sept.  5,  1780. 
Permission  is  granted  to  Mr.  Ryerson  and  his 
negro  man  Dick,  to  pass  and  repass  the  picket 
at  Ramapo. "  He  was  a  little  doubtful  about 
it,  but  yielded  to  the  blandishments  of  the 
shopkeeper  and  invested  five  dollars  in  the 
purchase.  Becoming  suspicious  that  it  was 
a  "Spring,"  he  was  confirmed  in  his  distrust 
by  rinding  that  a  neighbour  of  his  had  just 
picked  up,  in  Indiana,  a  pass  "written  by 
George  Washington"  for  Mr.  Ryerson  and  his 
man  Dick.  Not  long  after,  at  a  Boston  sale, 
another  Ryerson-Dick  pass  turned  up  and 
brought  $25.00.  The  purchaser  submitted  it 
to  divers  authorities,  some  of  whom  thought 
it  genuine,  but  the  best  judges  denounced 
it  unhesitatingly  as  a  "Spring"  product. 
Within  the  past  six  months  a  Ryerson-Dick 
pass  has  been  advertised  in  an  autograph  maga- 
zine in  New  York  at  the  price  of  $25.00.  My 


40      IRambles  in  Huto^rapb 


friend  writes:  "I  have  thought  it  would  be  a 
good  idea  to  call  a  convention  of  all  owners  of 
copies  of  this  pass,  to  meet  on  the  banks  of  the 
Ramapo,  and  tell  how  they  got  caught." 

So  the  results  of  Spring's  ingenuity  endure. 
His  history  contains  a  lesson  to  the  heedless  to 
avoid  the  people  who  are  forced  by  "  straitened 
circumstances"  to  part  with  valuable  family 
papers,  and  who  conduct  their  nefarious  traffic 
mainly  by  correspondence;  for  that  was  the 
method  by  which  the  spurious  writings  usually 
got  into  circulation.  It  is  odd  that  men, 
who  should  know  better,  are  so  often  deluded 
into  buying  bogus  autographs  ;  the  victims  are 
found  among  those  whom  one  would  scarcely 
suspect  of  blind  credulity.  The  prices  asked 
are  usually  suspiciously  low,  and  mankind 
is  disposed  to  be  fond  of  "a  bargain.  "  There 
is  temptation  too  in  the  thought  that  we  are 
finding  something  hitherto  unknown,  which 
has  never  been  hawked  about,  and  which  has 
not  been  subjected  to  handling  by  dealers. 
Then  too  the  enthusiast  often  believes  because 
he  wishes  to  believe.  The  topic  is  not  an 
enticing  one  ;  the  study  of  it  breeds  distrust  of 


facsimiles  ant>  forgeries        41 

our  own  precious  hoards.  But  the  frauds  are 
generally  exposed  in  due  season,  and  the  honest 
dealers  are  on  their  guard  against  the  produc- 
tions of  the  forgers.  Students  of  autographic 
history  are  familiar  with  the  manufactured 
letters  of  Schiller,  of  Byron,  and  of  Shelley, 
and  with  the  celebrated  Edinburgh  forgeries 
perpetrated  by  Alexander  Rowland  Smith, 
who  was  tried,  convicted,  and  sentenced  to 
imprisonment  in  1893.  Smith  dealt  princi- 
pally in  Walter  Scott  and  Burns,  but  his  work 
was  so  clumsily  done  that  it  is  difficult  to  com- 
prehend how  any  sensible  person  could  have 
been  imposed  upon.  New  Yorkers  may  remem- 
ber that  the  late  John  S.  Kennedy  paid  a  large 
sum  for  a  lot  of  the  false  Burns  manuscripts 
which  he  presented  to  the  Lenox  Library; 
but  Mr.  Kennedy  was  not  a  collector  and  he 
exercised  no  personal  judgment  about  them; 
no  doubt  he  trusted  to  some  bookseller.  But 
the  most  famous  case  is  that  of  the  Frenchman, 
Vrain-Lucas,  who  was  tried  in  1870  for  swin- 
dling M.  Chasles,  the  distinguished  mathe- 
matician, who  had  been  an  autograph  collector 
for  thirty  years.  The  folly  of  M.  Chasles  is 


42      Gambles  in  Huto^rapb  Xan& 

almost  inconceivable;  he  must  have  been 
under  some  hypnotic  influence.  He  paid  over 
140,000  francs  for  such  absurd  things  as  letters 
from  Alcibiades  to  Pericles,  from  Alexander 
the  Great  to  Aristotle,  from  Cleopatra  to  Cato, 
to  Cassar,  and  to  Pompey;  from  Herod  to 
Lazarus,  from  Judas  Iscariot  to  Mary  Mag- 
dalene— all  written  in  French  and  on  paper 
bearing  the  Angoule~me  watermark. 

But  Vrain-Lucas,  who  prospered  well  with 
his  very  ancient  correspondence,  found  him- 
self in  difficulties  when  the  inventions  he  had 
showered  upon  the  imaginative  and  credulous 
French  mind  came  into  contact  with  the  cool 
and  skeptical  judgment  of  an  Englishman.  M. 
Chasles  occupied  himself  in  writing  a  book  to 
prove  that  it  was  Pascal  and  not  Sir  Isaac 
Newton  who  discovered  the  principle  of 
gravitation.  Whether  Vrain-Lucas  suggested 
the  idea  or  whether  he  merely  fell  in  with  it, 
I  am  not  sure,  but  he  met  his  Waterloo  when 
he  playfully  dashed  off  letters  purporting  to 
have  passed  between  Pascal  and  the  Hon. 
Robert  Boyle,  and  finally  between  Pascal  and 
Sir  Isaac.  In  one  of  the  Pascal-Newton 


facsimiles  anb  forgeries        43 

letters  the  insouciant  forger  made  Newton 
discuss  abstruse  geometrical  questions  at  the 
age  of  eleven.  Chasles  was  so  elated  over 
these  letters  that  he  showed  them  to  the 
Academy.  M.  Prosper  Faugdre  and  Sir  David 
Brewster — who  had  written  the  life  of  Newton 
and  who  was  a  Foreign  Correspondent  of  the 
Academy — both  declared  that  the  documents 
were  forgeries,  and  .an  investigation  resulted 
in  demolishing  the  whole  structure.  Vrain- 
Lucas  was  tried,  convicted,  and  imprisoned. 
In  the  course  of  the  inquiry,  Sir  David  wrote  to 
Sir  Frederick  Madden,  the  great  authority  on 
ancient  manuscripts,  this  letter  which  is  my 
only  relic  of  the  Vrain-Lucas  affair: 

ALLERLY  MELROSE. 

Septr  17*  1867. 
SIR— 

You  are  no  doubt  acquainted  with  the  exciting 
controversy  respecting  the  forged  correspondence 
between  Pascal  and  Newton. 

M.  Chasles  of  the  Institute  has  sent  me  some  speci- 
mens of  the  notes  alleged  to  be  written  by  Sir  Isaac. 

As  you  must  have  some  of  his  stuff  in  the  British 
Museum,  I  enclose  one  of  the  Notes,  in  the  hope  that 
you  will  have  the  goodness  to  compare  it  with  New- 
ton's handwriting  and  signature  and  let  me  know  if 
there  is  any  resemblance  between  them. 


44      "Rambles  in  Hutograpb 


From  my  recollection  of  Newton's  Mss.  at  Hurst- 
bourn  Park  which  I  carefully  examined,  and  from  one 
of  his  signatures  now  before  me,  I  am  perfectly  con- 
vinced that  the  Letters  of  Newton  are  forgeries. 

As  I  have  to  give  back  the  enclosed  note  to  M. 
Chasles,  I  will  thank  you  to  return  it. 
I  am,  sir, 

Ever  most  truly  yrs, 

D.  BREWSTER 
Sir  FREDERICK  MADDEN 
R.  N.  A. 

(Copy  of  the  Note  inclosed) 

Si  on  vouloit  examiner  la  philosophic  de  M.  L.  il  ne 
seroit  pas  difficile  de  faire  voir  qu'il  detourne  la  signi- 
fication des  mots  de  leur  usage  ordinaire;  lois  par 
exemple  [sic]  qu'il  appelle  miracles  les  choses  qui 
arrive  [sic]  dans  le  cours  ordinaire  de  la  nature  ;  qu'il 
donne  le  nom  de  qualites  occultes  aux  choses  dont  les 
causes  nous  sont  inconnus,  et  qu'il  appele  ame  ce  qui 
n'anime  pas  le  corps  de  l'homme.  Is.  NEWTON 

M.  Chasles  thus  gained  something  resem- 
bling immortality.  His  repute  as  a  man  of 
science  has  faded  and  vanished,  but  so  long  as 
there  are  collectors  of  autographs,  his  fame  as 
the  monumental  gull  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury will  never  be  lost  in  oblivion.  It  may 
not  be  an  enviable  fame,  but  perhaps  it  is 
better  to  be  remembered  for  enthusiasm  and 
simplicity  than  not  to  be  remembered  at  all. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  AUTOGRAPH  IN  LITERATURE 

Autographs  in  Literature — Hawthorne's  Essay — Hobbies — 
Bliss  and  Parker — Autographs  in  Poetry — An  Autographic 
Lay — John  Banvard — Poems  by  Lowell — Rev.  J.  F. — 
G.  F.  W.— Antiquity  of  Collecting. 

AUTOGRAPHS  have  been  strangely  neglected 
in  literature.  We  may  leave  out  of  view  the 
bitter  complaints  of  James  Russell  Lowell  and 
other  eminent  growlers,  who  make  such  parade 
of  their  hostility  to  collectors,  and  who  seem 
to  think  that  their  personal  glory  is  enhanced 
by  abusing  the  venturesome  seekers  for  auto- 
graphic favours ;  but  while  I  cannot  altogether 
blame  them  for  their  restlessness  under  the 
infliction,  I  think  they  "make  believe  a  great 
deal." 

The  very  best  thing  in  literature  concerning 
autographs  is  the  little  essay  of  Hawthorne, 
gentle  and  quite  Hawthornish,  inspired  by 

45 


46      IRambles  in  Hutograpb  %ant> 

"a  volume  of  autograph  letters  chiefly  of 
soldiers  and  statesmen  of  the  Revolution." 
The  mind  of  Hawthorne  was  awake  to  every- 
thing which  appealed  to  the  imagination. 

Strange  [he  writes]  that  the  mere  identity  of  paper  and 
ink  should  be  so  powerful.  The  same  thoughts  might 
look  cold  and  ineffectual,  in  a  printed  book.  Human 
nature  craves  a  certain  materialism  and  clings  per- 
tinaciously to  what  is  tangible,  as  if  that  were  of  more 
importance  than  the  spirit  accidentally  involved  in  it. 
And,  in  truth,  the  original  manuscript  has  always 
something  which  print  itself  must  inevitably  lose. 

He  does  not  carry  out  his  thought  by  saying 
that  the  material,  the  tangible  thing  which 
the  human  mind  demands  is  like  the  bird  or  the 
flower,  a  glance  at  which  sets  in  motion  the 
wings  of  imagination ;  if  he  had,  he  would  have 
said  it  charmingly  and  not  clumsily  as  I  have 
done.  What  he  wrote  in  this  brief  essay  could 
not  fail  to  gladden  the  heart  of  the  most  en- 
thusiastic lover  of  autographs,  and  we  can 
only  be  sorry  that  it  is  not  longer.  He  says, 
in  conclusion: 

There  are  said  to  be  temperaments  endowed  with 
sympathies  so  exquisite,  that,  by  merely  handling  an 
autograph,  they  can  detect  the  writer's  character  with 


ttbe  Hutograpb  in  ^literature     47 

unerring  accuracy,  and  read  his  inmost  heart  as  easily 
as  a  less  gifted  eye  would  peruse  the  written  page. 
Our  faith  in  this  power,  be  it  a  spiritual  one,  or  only  a 
refinement  of  the  physical  nature,  is  not  unlimited,  in 
spite  of  evidence.  God  has  imparted  to  the  human 
soul  a  marvellous  strength  in  guarding  its  secrets,  and 
he  keeps  at  least  the  deepest  and  most  inward  record 
for  his  own  perusal.  But  if  there  be  such  sympathies 
as  we  have  alluded  to,  in  how  many  instances  would 
History  be  put  to  the  blush  by  a  volume  of  autograph 
letters,  like  this  which  we  now  close! 

We  have  also  occasional  magazine  or  news- 
paper articles,  usually  made  up  by  incompetent 
writers,  of  tedious  descriptions  of  somebody's 
unimportant  collections,  and  a  few  technical 
works  about  as  readable  as  the  list  of  automo- 
bile owners  in  the  Evening  Post.  There  is  a 
small  book  by  Mr.  George  R.  Sims,  a  dreary 
thing,  devoid  of  even  the  merit  of  sprightliness ; 
George  Birkbeck  Hill's  Talks  About  Auto- 
graphs; Dr.  Lyman  C.  Draper's  treatise  on  the 
autographs  of  the  Signers;  Mr.  Broadley's 
Chats  on  Autographs,  full  of  interest  and  in- 
struction; a  little  volume  of  my  own,  long 
since  forgotten  and  containing  nothing  in- 
structive; Dr.  Henry  T.  Scott's  Autograph 
Collecting,  published  in  1894,  more  than  half 


48      'Rambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanb 

of  which  is  taken  up  with  facsimiles  and  a 
list  of  prices  now  useless  and  obsolete;  and 
Scott  and  Pavey's  Guide  to  the  Collector  of 
Historical  Documents,  etc.,  published  in  1891. 
There  is  also  a  scarce  work  by  John  Gough 
Nichols,  called  Autographs  of  Remarkable  Per- 
sonages Conspicuous  in  English  History,  which 
appeared  in  1829,  but  I  never  saw  a  copy  of  it. 
None  of  these  things  may  with  propriety  be 
called  "literature,"  except,  perhaps,  Doctor 
Hill's  pleasant  papers.  I  make  this  assertion, 
feeling  safe  because  Mr.  Broadley,  who  is  a 
large  man,  is  some  three  thousand  miles  away 
enjoying  his  treasures  at  his  retreat  in  the 
south  of  England — "  The  Knapp, "  Bradpole — 
and  he  himself  calls  his  book  A  Practical  Guide 
for  the  Collector,  as  Doctor  Scott  calls  his  A 
Practical  Manual  for  Amateurs  and  Historical 
Students.  The  fact  is  that  autograph  collec- 
tors generally  want  to  speak  and  to  write 
about  their  own  particular  possessions,  and 
have  more  regard  for  their  own  accumulations 
than  they  have  for  the  literary  aspect  of  the 
subject.  That  is  the  case  with  me  I  know, 
and  it  is  not  unusual  with  the  hobby  people. 


Hutograpb  in  Xlterature     49 


I  read  recently  a  story  of  the  late  Cornelius 
N.  Bliss,  McKinley's  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
and  Judge  Alton  B.  Parker.  These  two  men, 
strongly  antagonistic  in  politics,  chanced  to 
be  seated  next  to  each  other  at  some  dinner. 
While  they  differed  in  their  political  views, 
they  were  both  proud  of  their  collections  of 
cattle.  When  Mr.  Bliss  returned  home  and 
was  asked  by  Mrs.  Bliss  what  he  and  the 
Judge  talked  about,  he  replied:  "He  talked 
about  his  herd  and  I  talked  about  mine." 
A  club  has  been  organised  lately,  called  "The 
Hobby  Club,"  composed  entirely  of  men  who 
have  "hobbies.  "  I  venture  to  predict  that  at 
their  reunions  each  man  will  talk  mostly  of  his 
own  hobby;  he  may  feign  a  polite  interest  in 
the  fads  of  the  others,  but  it  will  require  an 
effort.  As  old  Stapleton  in  Marryat's  story 
would  say,  "It  's  human  natur'." 

Even  the  luckless  beings  who  have  no 
hobbies  and  who  pretend  to  find  amusement 
in  contemplating  the  luckier  ones  who  have 
them,  admit  that  the  hobby  is  a  good  thing  to 
possess  if  well  managed.  In  that  strange 
medley  The  Doctor,  Southey  says: 


He  is  indeed  a  fortunate  man  who,  if  he  must  have  a 
hobby-horse,  which  is  the  same  thing  as  saying  if  he 
will  have  one,  keeps  it  not  merely  for  pleasure  but  for 
use,  breaks  it  in  well,  has  it  entirely  under  command, 
and  gets  as  much  work  out  of  it  as  he  could  have  done 
out  of  a  common  roadster. 

As  autographs  appear  to  have  little  or  no 
place  in  prose,  they  are  absolutely  ignored  in 
poetry.  Books  are  more  fortunate;  there  are 
volumes  of  considerable  size  made  up  wholly 
of  book- verse.  It  must  be  confessed  that  the 
field  is  larger  and  more  tempting,  and  the 
fondness  for  books  is  general  while  the  love 
of  autographs  is  limited  to  a  select  few.  My 
friend,  the  son  of  a  poet  and  the  editor  of  the 
little  monthly  which,  under  the  name  of 
The  Collector,  has  been  for  many  years  pub- 
lished in  New  York,  harmoniously  invokes  the 
muse  from  time  to  time;  but  he  usually  re- 
stricts himself  to  such  comparatively  trifling 
themes  as: 

Foreknowledge,  will  and  fate, 

Fix'd  fate,  free-will,  foreknowledge  absolute. 

Artemus  Ward  thought  that  an  occasional 
"goak"  improved  a  comic  paper,  and  in  the 


Hutograpb  in  literature      51 


belief  that  a  "poem"  about  autographs  might 
perhaps  be  appropriate  to  the  pages  of  an 
"autograph  periodical"  I  favoured  him  with 
an  effusion  substantially  as  follows: 

LYRA  AUTOGRAPHICA 

Of  books  the  poets  often  sing, 

But  every  critic  laughs 
To  see  that  strange  and  wondrous  thing, 

A  verse  on  autographs. 

Oh,  why  not  autographic  lays, 

I  own  I  cannot  see, 
"L.  S."  and  "A.  L.  S."  to  praise, 

And  sometimes  "L.  S.  D."? 

The  rhymester  hastens  to  address 

Sweet  screeds  on  "bliss"  and  "kisses," 

Not  to  "D.  S."or  "A.  N.  S." 
But  merely  trifling  Misses. 

A  book  is  often  dear,  't  is  true, 

Bound  in  levant  or  calf, 
Yet  surely  some  affection's  due 

Unto  the  autograph. 

So  let  some  glorious  Milton  rise 

Of  autographs  to  chant, 
For  I  confess,  to  my  surprise 

I  've  tried  to  —  but  I  can't. 

I  had  well-nigh  overlooked  a  choice  morsel 
of   poesy   which   a   Boston   friend   bestowed 


52      IRamfcles  in  Hutograpb  lanfc 

upon  me  in  his  malicious  desire  to  bring  my 
favourite  pursuit  into  ridicule.  The  hand- 
writing is  poor,  but  I  have  been  able  to  decipher 
all  but  the  signature.  This  is  the  jewel  of 
metrical  delight. 

'T  would  provoke  a  judge  to  laugh 

When  folks  ask  one's  autograph. 
Worthless  sure  as  weeds  or  chaff 

Is  an  empty  autograph. 
Why  should  any  but  riff-raff 

Care  about  an  autograph? 
Yet  since  harder  it  was  by  half 

To  refuse  our  autograph, 
We  Pierian  springs  who  quaff 

Oft  must  give  our  autograph. 

April  23,  1849. 

The  author  was  ashamed  to  sign  his  name  in 
such  a  way  that  it  could  be  read. 

He  got  up  all  the  available  rhymes  to  auto- 
graph— except  one — and  adapted  his  senti- 
ments to  fit  them.  I  can  fancy  how  clever  he 
deemed  his  verselets  to  be  and  how  proudly  he 
scrawled  them  on  a  fair  page  of  his  friend's 
album;  for  the  sheet  on  which  they  appear  is 
manifestly  taken  from  one  of  these  fearsome 
books. 


Hutograpb  in  literature      53 


My  Boston  acquaintance  has  also  kindly 
sent  to  me  this  production  of  John  Banvard, 
the  Panorama  man,  whose  biography  sets 
forth  that  he  painted  a  picture  three  miles 
long  for  his  panorama  and  wrote  seventeen 
hundred  poems. 

Thus  speaks  the  wise,  prophetic  sage  : 
We  Ve  entered  now  the  "electric  age;" 
The  time  is  near  when  autographs 
Can  be  despatched  by  telegraphs. 

If  this  is  one  of  the  seventeen  hundred,  I  am 
glad  that  I  have  never  encountered  the  other 
sixteen  hundred  and  ninety-nine.  This  foun- 
tain of  poesy  burst  forth  in  1881,  when  the 
telegraph  was  not  a  startling  novelty,  and 
"despatching"  things  "by  telegraph"  was 
common  enough  —  but  not  "by  telegraphs." 
Evidently  he  thought  he  needed  a  perfect 
rhyme  for  "autographs,  "  but  he  did  not  really 
succeed  in  getting  one. 

In  reference  to  his  prediction,  I  may  say 
that  some  years  ago  I  invested  what  was  a 
considerable  sum  —  for  me  —  in  an  invention 
merely  because  it  was  called  the  "Telauto- 
graph," which  actually  conveys  the  auto- 


54      IRambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanfc 

graphic  message  itself.  I  have  an  idea  of 
applying  my  dividends  to  the  purchase  of 
holograph  letters  of  Thomas  Lynch,  Jr., 
Button  Gwinnett,  and  William  Shakespeare — 
when  I  get  the  dividends. 

In  bewailing  the  paucity  of  autographic 
verse  I  have  not  forgotten  James  Russell 
Lowell,  that  professed  hater  of  autographs; 
but,  strictly  speaking,  his  poem  is  not  about 
autographs — it  is  an  autograph  itself;  and  he 
did  it  fairly  well,  probably  making  a  wry  face 
meanwhile;  undoubtedly  "it  revolted  him  but 
he  did  it."  I  find  it  in  the  ninth  volume  of 
the  Riverside  edition  of  his  works. 

FOR  AN  AUTOGRAPH 

Though  old  the  thought  and  oft  exprest, 
'Tis  his  at  last  who  says  it  best — 
I  '11  try  my  fortune  with  the  rest 

Life  is  a  leaf  of  paper  white 
Whereon  each  one  of  us  may  write 
His  word  or  two,  and  then  comes  night. 

"Lo,  time  and  space  enough,"  we  cry, 
"To  write  an  epic!"  so  we  try 
Our  wits  upon  the  edge,  and  die. 


Hutograpb  in  literature      55 


Muse  not  which  way  the  pen  we  hold, 
Luck  hates  the  slow  and  loves  the  bold, 
Soon  comes  the  darkness  and  the  cold. 

Greatly  begin  !  though  thou  have  time 
But  for  a  line,  be  that  sublime  — 
Not  failure,  but  low  aim,  is  crime. 

Ah,  with  what  lofty  hope  we  came! 
But  we  forget  it,  dream  of  fame, 
And  scrawl,  as  I  do  here,  a  name. 

In  a  magazine  called  The  Autograph,  for 
March,  1912,  the  following  is  given  as  a 
quotation  from  Lowell,  but  I  do  not  discover 
it  in  my  edition. 

AN  AUTOGRAPH 

O'er  the  wet  sands  an  insect  crept 
Ages  ere  man  on  earth  was  known  — 

And  patient  Time,  while  Nature  slept, 
The  slender  tracing  turned  to  stone. 

'T  was  the  first  autograph;  and  ours? 

Prithee,  how  much  of  prose  or  song, 
In  league  with  the  creative  powers, 

Shall  'scape  Oblivion's  broom  so  long? 

This  conveys  the  idea  that  the  first  auto- 
graph was  written  by  an  insect.  It  does  not 
bear  the  marks  of  Lowell's  fastidious  taste, 


56      IRambles  in  Butograpb  Tlanb 

and  if  he  really  wrote  it  I  am  not  surprised 
that  it  is  not  included  in  the  Riverside  edition 
of  his  "Works." 

Quite  often  odd  and  freaky  bits  find  their 
way  into  the  omnium  gatherum  of  a  collector. 
A  friend  gave  me  some  months  ago  a  letter 
from  a  brother  collector  in  which  the  writer 
says:  "Amongst  my  letters  is  one  from  a 
hangman,  and  amongst  my  detached  auto- 
graphs is  one  of  a  man  who  was  'hung,  drawn, 
and  quartered'  (I  imagine  that  he  was  the 
last,  in  England)."  Naturally  this  last- 
mentioned  gem  was  placed  among  the  de- 
tached autographs;  and  the  communication 
from  the  hangman  ought  to  strike  a  chord  in 
the  breast  of  every  collector.  In  my  own 
possession  is  a  curious  record  of  the  solemn 
silliness  of  a  bigoted  anti-autograph  ass.  I  do 
not  know  who  the  Reverend  J.  F-  -  was,  or 
anything  about  him  except  that  he  was  at 
large  as  long  ago  as  1836,  and  I  trust  that  he 
has  no  able-bodied  descendants  living.  It  is 
amusing  to  observe  how  seriously  the  despiser 
of  autographs  takes  himself;  what  a  deplor- 
able lack  of  humour  he  exhibits;  how  gravely 


ftfoe  Hutoarapb  in  Xiterature      57 

he  proclaims  his  own  superabundant  righteous- 
ness and  wisdom;  with  what  compassion 
he  rebukes  the  ungodly  person  who  betrays  a 
hankering  after  specimens  of  handwriting.  It 
appears,  by  a  memorandum  appended  to  the 

sermon,  that  "Mr.  F having  been  asked 

for  a  contribution  to  a  Lady's  Album,  complied, 
and  wrote  a  few  lines  rather  reluctantly;  on 
the  next  day  regretting  that  he  had  acceded 
to  what  he  usually  discountenanced,  he  wrote 
the  preceding  note  which  he  requested  might 
be  pasted  over  his  previous  contribution." 
Ah !  the  woman  tempted  him  and  he  did  wrong 
— that  is,  he  did  write.  Like  many  another 
pious  humbug,  he  thought  to  conceal  his  dire 
sin  by  "pasting"  something  over  the  record  of 
his  crime,  and  behold!  he  has  only  preserved 
that  record  even  until  the  twentieth  century. 
The  "preceding  note"  deserves  quotation  not 
only  for  its  intrinsic  demerits  but  for  the 
Johnsonian  eloquence  of  its  style. 

Will  the  proprietor  of  this  volume  accept  it  as  a 
sincerely  friendly  sentiment  that  I  do  greatly  wish  the 
Ladies  would  be  cured  of  this  vain  fantasy  of  Albums? 
It  is  a  littleness  of  which  it  would  be  worthy  of  their 


58      IRambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanb 


good  sense  and  good  taste  to  rid  themselves.  The 
volumes,  when  filled,  are  more  worthless  than  any 
others  of  the  same  quantity  of  contents ;  a  collection  of 
unmeaning  scraps,  written  under  the  awkwardness  of 
having  nothing  to  suggest  what  to  write  (unless  some- 
thing to  insinuate  a  compliment  to  the  "fair  posses- 
sor"), and  written  reluctantly,  except  perhaps  by 
those  whose  vanity  may  be  flattered  by  finding  their 
names  so  much  accounted  of.  And  as  to  having  a  num- 
ber of  names  put  on  the  paper  by  the  owners  of  them, 
it  does  appear  to  be  a  strange  fancy  to  set  any  value 
on  such  an  acquisition.  With  several  ladies  I  have 
successfully  remonstrated  against  the  fashion  and  the 
folly,  and  have  afterwards  been  thanked  for  hav- 
ing induced  them  to  throw  it  away.  I  should  be  grat- 
ified, and  even  proud  if  I  might  hope  to  persuade 
the  proprietor  of  this  volume  to  the  same  worthy 
determination. 

J-  F. 

March  14, 1836. 

But  let  us  be  just  to  F .     I  am  not  sure 

that- he  was  wrong  in  denouncing  albums;  and 
he  spells  "Ladies"  once  at  least  with  a  capital 
L.  On  the  whole,  I  think  I  will  withdraw  the 
offensive  epithet  I  bestowed  upon  him.  Per- 
haps it  was  the  album  and  not  the  autograph 
which  aroused  his  clerical  wrath.  At  all 
events,  he  is  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  the  doubt, 
as  every  criminal  is  who  is  arraigned  at  the 


Gbe  Hutograpb  in  literature      59 

bar  of  justice.  But  there  is  no  excuse  for  his 
clumsy  attempt  to  hide  his  transgression  by 
paste.  I  judge  by  inspection  of  my  original 
that  the  "Fair  Proprietor,"  unmoved  by  the 
oration,  kept  both  of  the  writings  and  declined 
to  paste. 

Another  example  of  self-conceit  is  afforded 
by  a  printed  paper  given  to  me  by  Mr.  Good- 
speed  of  Boston.  It  reads  as  follows : 

LITTLE  HOLLAND  HOUSE,  KENSINGTON  W. 

Mr.  G.  F.  W regrets  to  say  that  it  is  against  a 

principle  he  holds,  with  reference  to  the  modern  cus- 
tom of  autograph  collecting,  to  accede  to  the  request 
just  made  of  him. 

It  does  not  require  a  Sherlock  Holmes  to 
detect  that  the  request  was  for  "his  auto- 
graph." W must  have  "held"  a  fine  as- 
sortment of  "principles."  While  he  is  not  to 
be  scolded  for  declining  to  write  his  name  at 
the  solicitation  of  the  impudent  creature  who 
disturbs  the  peaceful  meditations  of  the  great, 
it  is  sublime  self-admiration  which  exalts  his 
unwillingness  to  the  dignity  of  a  "principle." 
He  means  to  say  that  he  dislikes  to  give  his 
signature  to  an  intrusive  stranger;  the  request 


60      1Ramble0  in  Hutograpb  Xanb 

annoys  him,  puts  him  to  trouble.  Long- 
fellow and  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  whose 
good  nature  in  the  matter  of  autographs  has 
become  almost  proverbial,  were  certainly  not 
unprincipled;  their  principles  were  surely  as 

good  as  those  of  Mr.  G.  F.  W ;   but  they 

were  not  puffed  up  with  personal  pride.  He 
might  as  well  have  said  that  he  held  principles 
against  being  jostled  on  the  street,  or  buying 
a  paper  from  a  persistent  newsboy,  or  having 
a  hard-boiled  egg  for  breakfast,  or  using 
French  vermouth  in  his  cocktail.  With  all  his 
"principles,"  he  could  not  help  writing  letters 
now  and  then,  and  I  have  one  of  them  in 
which  he  excuses  himself  for  not  keeping  a 
promise  to  lend  some  pictures,  on  the  ground 
that  when  he  promised,  he  forgot  that  he  did 
not  have  the  pictures.  Manifestly  he  had  no 
principle  against  making  a  promise  which  he 
could  not  perform. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  lordly  W 

refers  to  "the  modern  custom  of  autograph 
collecting."  But  is  it  an  extremely  modern 
custom?  Mr.  Brqadley  reminds  us  that  Pliny 
and  Cicero  were  collectors ;  and  we  are  told  by 


Butograpb  in  literature      61 


others  that,  in  the  palmy  days  of  Greece  and 
Rome,  large  sums  were  paid  for  autographs  and 
that  there  were  thieves  and  forgers  of  them. 
Yet  those  sapient  gentlemen  W.  Robertson 
Nicoll  and  Thomas  Seccombe,  in  their  History 
of  English  Literature,  assert  that  Boswell  "initi- 
ated autograph  hunting,  "  because  he  wrote  to 
Lord  Chatham  to  "honour  him  with  a  letter 
now  and  then,"  thus  characteristically  miss- 
ing the  point  of  Boswell's  application.  The 
Chinese  are  said  to  prize  autographs  "above 
all  treasures"  and  to  regard  them  "with  idola- 
trous veneration  ;"  but  whether  this  is  true  since 
our  Oriental  friends  have  begun  to  indulge  in 
the  modern  luxuries  of  rebellion  and  a  repub- 
lic I  cannot  say.  The  Paston  Letters  include 
five  large  volumes  of  autograph  letters  of  the 
reigns  of  Henry  VI.  and  Henry  VII.;  and 
whether  or  not  people  collected  then  after  our 
own  fashion,  we  know  that  the  custom 
flourished  in  its  most  virulent  form  in  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  when 
"men  and  women  of  light  and  learning  were 
accustomed  to  carry  about  oblong  volumes  of 
vellum,  on  which  their  friends  and  acquaint- 


62      IRambles  in  Hutograpb  %anb 

ances  were  requested  to  write  some  motto  or 
phrase  under  his  or  her  signature."  John 
Milton  wrote  in  one  of  these  Alba  Amicorum 
in  1651,  and  indeed  at  Geneva  in  1639  in  the 
album  of  Camillus  Cardoyn,  a  Neapolitan 
nobleman  then  living  in  that  city,  but  he  had 

never  heard  of  W nor  of  the  Reverend  J. 

F ,  and  his  conscience  had  not  been  pro- 
perly awakened  to  the  enormity  of  the  offence. 
It  would  have  been  an  edifying  spectacle,  the 

pursuit  of  Mr.  W by  the  autograph  king, 

Mr.  B ,  with  an  album,  while  W ,  like 

a  modern  Joseph,  was  fleeing  from  the  presence 
of  the  tempter. 

But  why  should  we  pour  the  vials  of  our 
mighty  wrath  upon  the  heads  of  the  wretched 
W and  the  futile  F ?  It  is  unbecom- 
ing and  unwise  to  abuse  anybody;  that  meth- 
od of  speech  should  be  left  to  "progressive" 
orators  and  the  advocates  of  woman  suffrage. 

If  w an(j  p could  know  how  severe  we 

are  with  them,  they  might,  as  Grosvenor  im- 
plored Bunthorne  in  Patience,  entreat  us  by  the 
memory  of  our  aunt,  not  to  curse  them.  Yet 
as  they  will  never  know  anything  about  our 


tTbe  Hutograpb  in  literature     63 

censure,  and  would  probably  not  care  much  if 
they  did,  no  serious  harm  will  result.  Doubt- 
less they  were  worthy  persons,  despite  their 
heretical  views  on  the  subject  of  autographs. 


CHAPTER  IV 

AUTOGRAPHS  AND   EXTRA-ILLUSTRATION 

Poe's  Article — Lithographs — Poe,  Nelson,  and  Wellington — 
Mr.  Marvin's  Chapter — Mr.  Broadley  on  Extra- Illustration 
— Autographs  in  Extra-Illustration — Some  Minor  Errors  in 
Mr.  Broadley 's  Book — Comparisons  of  Collections. 

IN  referring  to  the  literature  of  autographs  I 
omitted  to  mention  a  "Chapter  on  Autography  " 
by  Edgar  Allan  Poe,  which  consists  principally 
of  remarks  about  persons  whom  he  called 
" living  literati  of  the  country,"  supplemented 
by  some  childish  comments  on  their  chiro- 
graphy.  He  includes  some  people  of  impor- 
tance, like  Emerson,  Irving,  and  Bryant,  and  a 
good  many  of  no  importance  whatever,  such 
as  J.  Beauchamp  Jones,  Mrs.  M.  St.  Leon 
Loud,  and  one  Mcjilton  whose  name  does  not 
fill  the  trump  of  fame.  The  lady  is  described 
as  "one  of  the  finest  poets  of  this  country," 
which  reminds  one  forcibly  of  Mr.  Jefferson 
Brick's  estimate  of  Major  Pawkins  and  pre- 
64 


Edgar  Allan  Poe 
From  an  etching 


Hutograpbs  anb  jEitra^UIIustration  65 

pares  us  for  the  assertion,  later  on,  that  "Mr. 
J.  R.  Lowell,  of  Massachusetts,  is  entitled, 
in  our  opinion,  to  at  least  the  second  or  third 
place  among  the  poets  of  America."  In  view 
of  these  expressions,  it  may  be  well  to  add  that 
the  article  was  not  intended  to  be  humorous. 
It  is  written  in  the  worst  magazine  style  of 
the  period  and  bears  evidence  of  having  been 
a  "pot-boiler."  Poor  Poe  was  compelled  to 
waste  much  time  and  energy  on  many  such 
wretched  things  for  the  sake  of  the  pittance 
they  brought  to  him.  He  was  apt  to  be  dull 
and  sometimes  offensive  when  he  indulged  in 
what  he  was  pleased  to  call  criticism  of  his 
contemporaries;  most  of  it  now  seems  very 
thin,  arrogant,  and  impertinent.  This  I  say 
although  he  does  utter  the  profound  truth  that 
"the  feeling  which  prompts  to  the  collection 
of  autographs  is  a  natural  and  rational  one." 
The  commonplace  yet  pretentious  essay,  if 
essay  it  may  be  styled,  would  never,  of  course, 
have  survived  the  magazine  which  gave  it 
birth  had  not  the  after-acquired  fame  of  the 
author  given  some  interest  to  even  his  poorest 
scribblings. 


66     "Rambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanfc 

A  comparison  of  Poe's  method  of  dealing 
with  autographs  and  that  of  Hawthorne  will 
show  clearly  the  great  difference  between  the 
two  minds.  There  was  always  a  bit  of  the 
charlatan  about  Poe,  despite  his  flashes  of 
brilliancy.  Hawthorne's  autographic  com- 
ments reveal  the  calm,  sincere,  comprehensive 
sanity  of  a  great  personage,  while  Poe's  might 
have  been  penned  by  some  shallow  schoolboy. 

Autograph  hunters  well  know  the  value  of  a 
scrap  of  Poe's  neat  and  beautiful  handwriting. 
I  had  what  I  thought  was  a  splendid  letter  of 
his,  although  I  was  a  little  suspicious  about 
its  authenticity;  and  one  day,  resolved  to 
learn  the  truth  however  disagreeable  it  might 
be,  I  called  upon  the  late  Charles  De  Forest 
Burns  to  pass  judgment.  That  candid  and 
skilful  expert  reluctantly  revealed  to  me  that 
it  was  only  an  excellent  lithograph,  and  I  was 
no  longer  repentant  over  the  fact  that  I  had 
caused  it  to  be  bound  up  in  an  "extra-illus- 
trated" volume. 

Experience  has  taught  me  that  good  litho- 
graphs are  much  more  deceptive  than  photo- 
graphs. It  is  well  to  be  cautious,  for  example, 


>ge  of  original  draft  of  a  letter  (7  pages)  by  Edgar  Allan  Poe,  undated,  but  written  about  1844 


Hutoarapbe  anfc  i£itra*1IIu0tration  67 

about  so-called  Wellington  letters,  especially 
formal  ones;  for  it  is  known  that  the  Duke, 
whose  correspondence  of  that  sort  was  enor- 
mous, was  compelled  to  resort  to  the  use  of 
lithographed  forms  to  help  him,  and  the 
imitations  are  excellent.  There  is  another 
danger  about  his  letters,  to  be  encountered  in 
most  cases  of  public  men  who  have  secretaries, 
illustrated  in  a  story  related  by  Lionel  Tolle- 
mache  in  his  Old  and  Odd  Memories.  An 
Eton  boy,  who  had  shot  some  yellow-hammers, 
was  told  by  mischievous  schoolmates  that 
these  birds  were  under  the  Duke's  special 
guardianship,  and  was  hoaxed  into  writing  a 
letter  of  humble  apology  for  his  assault  upon 
the  protected  yellow-hammers.  He  received 
a  curt  answer,  saying  that  F.  M.  the  Duke  of 
Wellington  could  not  make  out  what  he  meant. 
One  of  the  masters,  anxious  to  obtain  an  au- 
tograph, bought  this  reply  for  five  shillings 
and  afterwards  discovered  that  the  letter  was 
almost  certainly  written  by  a  secretary  who 
could  counterfeit  exactly  the  Duke's  hand- 
writing. 

Doctor  Scott  tells  of  a  supposed  letter  of 


68      "Rambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanfc 

Lord  Nelson,  belonging  to  a  poor  labouring 
man,  which  appeared  from  a  tracing  to  have 
been  written  by  Nelson  with  his  left  hand,  but 
when  examined  by  an  expert  on  behalf  of  a 
would-be  purchaser,  turned  out  to  be  a  mere 
lithograph,  on  cartridge  paper,  perfectly  clean, 
and  "had  never  been  sealed  or  properly 
folded  into  the  shape  for  posting" ;  the  date  of 
the  letter  being  before  the  time  of  envelopes, 
which  did  not  come  into  general  use  until 
about  1839.  Well  disposed  friends,  com- 
pletely innocent  of  wrongful  intent,  have  often 
submitted  to  me  lithographed  letters,  but 
except  in  the  Poe  case  I  have  usually  been 
able  to  detect  the  truth  about  them  on  a  mere 
inspection;  and  in  that  instance  the  letter 
came  from  a  dealer  who  was  himself  deceived ; 
undoubtedly  he  had  passed  it  without  due 
examination,  although  the  price  was  so  small 
that  it  ought  to  have  awakened  distrust  in 
the  minds  of  both  of  us. 

Mr.  Frederic  Rowland  Marvin  devotes  a 
chapter  of  his  Excursions  of  a  Book  Lover  to 
'  'Holographs. ' '  He  has  disarmed  me  by  kindly 
giving  me  a  copy  of  the  book,  or  I  might  be 


Hutograpbs  anb  iBitra^Huetratlon  69 

tempted  to  break  a  friendly  lance  with  him 
on  some  of  his  propositions;  not  however  on 
his  assertion  that  "the  letters  and  journals  of 
men  who  have  filled  positions  of  public  trust 
are  often  of  the  utmost  value."  But  when  he 
says  that  "Van  Buren  was  regarded  in  his  day 
as  a  very  trickish  and  unreliable  politician," 
I  am  led  to  express  an  emphatic  dissent.  The 
man  who  was  United  States  Senator,  Governor 
of  New  York,  Secretary  of  State,  Vice-Presi- 
dent, and  President  was  not  so  regarded,  ex- 
cept perhaps  by  some  of  his  political  enemies. 
That  estimate  of  him  is  a  growth  of  later  days, 
fostered  by  the  Whig  partisans  who  used  to 
write  our  history  for  us.  The  contrary  has 
been  established  by  the  late  Edward  Morse 
Shepard  in  his  masterly  little  biography  of 
Van  Buren,  and  later  historians  are  grad- 
ually discarding  the  old  slanders.  It  is  a 
mistake  to  accept  as  the  general  judg- 
ment of  the  community  contemporary  assaults 
upon  a  statesman  made  by  prejudiced  parti- 
sans. 

Mr.  Broadley  in  his  Chats  on  Autographs 
says: 


70     Gambles  in  Hutoorapb  Xanfc 

The  classification  of  autographs  has  given  rise  to 
endless  discussion.  On  this  subject  I  am  at  issue  with 
Mr.  Joline.  Personally  I  regard  extra-illustration  as 
the  most  effective  and  interesting  plan  of  arranging 
and  preserving  autographs.  Mr.  Joline,  on  the  other 
hand,  "meditates"  upon  extra-illustration  as  only 
an  incident  or  contingent  possibility  in  autograph 
collection." 

I  am  not  quite  able  to  perceive  exactly 
what  this  has  to  do  with  the  classification  of 
autographs ;  I  think  he  means  the  arrangement 
of  them  after  they  have  been  collected.  Nor 
do  I  fully  understand  how  the  mere  arrange- 
ment of  them  can  be  anything  but  an  "inci- 
dent" to  the  main  thing,  which  is  the  obtaining 
and  possession  of  them.  If  one  accumulates 
a  number  of  precious  stones,  whether  he  puts 
them  in  a  safe  deposit  vault  or  in  his  overcoat 
pocket  is  certainly  only  an  "incident,"  for 
they  were  surely  not  acquired  for  the  purpose 
of  adorning  the  vault  or  of  adding  to  the  at- 
tractiveness of  the  pocket.  Whether  your 
soldiers  are  attired  in  scarlet  jackets  or  in 
unobtrusive  khaki  is  but  an  incident  in  the 
assembling  of  an  army.  But  with  respect  to 
extra-illustration,  I  do  not  know  that  there  is 


Hutoatapbs  anb  Eitra^llUustration  71 

any  issue  between  Mr.  Broadley  and  myself. 
Some  years  ago  I  casually  suggested,  inno- 
cently enough  and  without  the  least  notion  of 
dogmatising  about  the  subject,  that  I  was 
"unable  to  decide"  whether  it  is  a  good 
plan  to  employ  valuable  autographs  in  extra- 
illustration  ;  and  I  expressed  the  view  that  it 
"really  belittles  a  fine,  full,  and  interesting 
letter"  to  insist  on  its  permanent  association 
with  anything  else.  Ten  years  have  passed 
since  I  uttered  this  somewhat  harmless 
dictum;  I  am  older  now  and,  I  hope,  wiser. 
I  have  reached  the  sage  conclusion  that  the 
best  way  to  arrange  one's  autographs  is  to  do 
it  to  please  one's  self.  Advancing  years  make 
us  more  tolerant.  In  the  matter  of  rings,  for 
example,  I  may  prefer  to  wear  them  on  my 
fingers,  but  a  South  African  king  may  be 
fonder  of  wearing  them  in  his  nose,  and  his 
method  may  suit  him  far  better  than  mine 
would. 

I  cannot  tell  how  others  may  be  affected  but 
I  find  that  a  good  letter,  taken  by  itself,  and 
bearing  substantially  the  appearance  which  it 
had  when  it  left  the  hands  of  the  writer,  im- 


72      IRambles  in  Butosrapb  OLanfc 

presses  my  imagination  more  deeply  than  it 
does  when  I  come  upon  it  bound  in  a  book 
that  may  or  may  not  be  worthy  to  contain  it ; 
and  imagination  plays  a  great  part  in  the 
pleasure  of  autograph  ownership.  This  may 
be  only  a  personal  idiosyncrasy ;  tastes  vary  so 
and  I  am  not  sufficiently  self-centred  to  regard 
my  own  as  a  standard.  Some  men  love  red 
neckties  and  chequered  waistcoats;  this  seems 
strange  to  me,  but  I  am  far  from  wishing  to 
get  up  an  "issue"  about  it;  and  would  no 
more  do  so  than  I  would  attempt  to  make  one 
with  a  man  who  likes  cold,  boiled  veal,  which 
I  detest — that  trait  being  the  only  character- 
istic which  I  have  in  common  with  Macaulay. 
We  must  remember  that  our  autographs  are 
not  for  ourselves  only;  ultimately  they  will 
pass  into  the  possession  of  our  successors.  If 
one  of  these  successors  especially  covets,  for 
example,  a  fine  letter  of  Keats,  he  does  not  like 
to  be  compelled  to  buy  a  big  book  or  set  of 
books,  full  of  things  which  he  does  not  want, 
in  order  to  obtain  the  one  thing  which  he  does 
want.  I  am  by  no  means  opposed  to  the 
practice  of  extra-illustrating  books;  I  have 


Hutograpfos  anb  lEitra^HIIuetration  73 

frequently  been  guilty  of  it  and  have  enjoyed 
it  and  the  results  of  it ;  but  this  I  will  maintain, 
without  fear  of  the  punishment  threatened  by 
Mr.  Broadley,  that  the  real  autograph  lover, 
the  genuine  one,  the  simon  pure  article,  the 
one  who  owns  no  other  goddess  than  the  deity 
Autographina,  preserves  his  treasures  in  port- 
folios, unmolested  by  paste,  ribbons,  or  printed 
text — not  even  inlaid.  A  true  book-collector 
will  not,  except  in  a  case  of  extreme  necessity, 
destroy  an  ancient,  faded,  and  decayed  cover- 
ing in  order  to  enshrine  the  object  of  his  affec- 
tion in  the  richest  and  daintiest  of  bindings. 
When  one  has  a  complete  set  of  the  "Signers 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,"  or  of 
"  Napoleon  and  his  Marshals,"  it  may  not  be 
amiss  to  bind  up  the  one  with  Sanderson's 
Lives,  as  Doctor  Emmet  does,  or  the  other 
with  Sloane's  Napoleon — or  perhaps  with 
some  less  voluminous  work;  but  few  extra- 
illustrators  are  content  with  such  simple  pro- 
cedure. They  are  for  ever  overloading  their 
pets  not  only  with  autographs  and  with  por- 
traits of  persons  incidentally  referred  to  in  the 
text,  but  with  "views"  of  places  mentioned 


74     IRambles  in  Eutograpb  Xanfc 

by  the  author.  Years  ago  the  late  John  H. 
V.  Arnold,  a  confirmed  extra-illustrator,  wrote 
to  me: 

If  you  can  succeed  in  making  up  your  mind  at  some 
future  time  that  you  have  gathered  enough  materials 
to  satisfy  you  and  bind  up  your  bantling,  you  will  be 
possessed  of  courage  enough  to  do  almost  anything. 
To  one  who  really  becomes  interested  in  the  "busi- 
ness" it  is  the  most  fascinating  of  occupations  to  "ex- 
tend" a  good  book,  but  it  is  hard  to  say  "hold — • 
enough!" 

Mr.  Broadley  himself  unconsciously  fur- 
nishes an  example  of  what  many  regard  as  an 
objectionable  feature  of  the  use  of  valuable 
letters  in  extra-illustration.  He  tells  us  that  he 
has  "extended  to  seventeen  volumes"  the  two 
volumes  of  the  Recollections  of  Edmund  Yates. 
Letters  of  Yates  himself  would  naturally  find 
a  place  in  such  a  collection,  and  he  may  well 
have  availed  himself  of  several  minor  ones  hav- 
ing no  especial  rarity  or  distinction.  But  let  us 
suppose  that  he  had  "inserted"  some  impor- 
tant letters  of  Thackeray  or  of  Dickens,  as  he 
may  have  done,  for  both  of  those  men  played 
a  leading  part  in  one  of  the  most  important 
occurrences  in  the  life  of  Yates — not  a  mere 


Hutoorapbs  aitf>  £itra*1llu0tratlon  75 

autographic  specimen  but  one  of  high  intrinsic 
interest;  fancy  it  obscured  in  the  rubbish  of 
seventeen  volumes!  It  would  be  like  a  dia- 
mond in  a  muck-heap,  although  I  do  not  mean 
to  apply  that  offensive  term  to  the  interesting 
gatherings  included  in  Mr.  Broadley's  vol- 
umes, no  doubt  a  delightful  assemblage.  But 
to  me  the  beauty  and  the  individuality  of  the 
rare  letter  would  be  greatly  dimmed  by  its 
surroundings.  Mr.  Broadley,  who  is  a  lawyer 
of  high  reputation,  undoubtedly  recognises 
the  force  of  the  phrase  "Noscitur  a  sociis." 
The  enthusiastic  extra-illustrator  is  apt  to 
lose  his  sense  of  proportion  and  to  mingle 
trifles  and  rarities  without  careful  discrimina- 
tion. He  often  thrusts  his  nobility  in  the 
companionship  of  the  hoi  polloi  unless  he  has 
more  self-restraint  than  I  can  command.  By 
the  way,  is  it  strictly  accurate  to  call  the 
insertion  of  autograph-letters  in  books  "Gran- 
gerising"?  As  I  remember  it — the  sage  of 
Bradpole  will  correct  me  if  I  am  wrong — 
James  Granger,  the  Shiplake  parson,  founder 
of  the  cult,  limited  his  industry  to  portraits, 
and  one  of  the  chief  objections  urged  against 


76      "Rambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanfc 

his  methods,  wholly  inapplicable  to  auto- 
graphs, was  that  it  was  often  necessary  to  muti- 
late or  to  destroy  valuable  books  in  order  to 
procure  the  desired  portraits  and  plates.  In 
these  days,  when  it  is  comparatively  easy  to 
find  portraits  not  connected  with  bound  vol- 
umes, there  is  not  much  force  in  that  ob- 
jection. 

There  is  one  point,  however — an  insignifi- 
cant one — on  which  I  must  take  issue  with 
Mr.  Broadley,  and  that  is  in  regard  to  the 
spelling  of  the  last  name  of  James  Anthony 
Froude,  whom  he  calls  "Frowde,"  twice  in 
the  text  and  once  in  the  index.  There  were 
Frowdes  in  England  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, and  there  are  some  there  yet,  Mr.  Henry 
Frowde  among  the  number;  but  neither  the 
historian  nor  his  father  spelled  the  name  in 
that  way.  Broadley  quotes  one  of  my  Froude 
letters  in  full — it  is  plainly  signed  "Froude" 
— as  well  as  several  others  from  my  collection, 
without  giving  me  any  credit  for  their  posses- 
sion; but  he  did  not  mean  to  do  me  any 
injustice,  for  he  is  one  of  the  fairest-minded 
and  most  kindly  of  men.  But  he  is  not 


Butoorapbe  ant>  jeitra^flllustration  77 

scrupulously  careful  about  little  things:  we 
find  our  friend  W.  H.  Bixby,  of  St.  Louis, 
masquerading  under  the  name  of  "Bexby," 
and  he  makes  me  use  the  impossible  word 
"colligendering;"  however,  that  is  probably  a 
printer's  error.  Naturally  he  is  not  familiar 
with  American  collectors  or  he  would  not  asso- 
ciate my  humble  name  with  the  illustrious 
names  of  Emmet  and  Morgan,  which  is 
flattering  but  undeserved;  it  is  very  much 
like  speaking  of  Hannibal,  Napoleon,  and  Tom 
Thumb  as  distinguished  generals.  My  insig- 
nificant collection  may  no  more  be  compared 
with  Emmet's  and  Morgan's  than  a  cross- 
roads Methodist  chapel  may  be  compared  with 
St.  Peter's  at  Rome;  but  one  can  always  for- 
give errors  of  that  nature.  Still  the  unmerited 
prominence  which  Mr.  Broadley  gives  to  me 
in  his  book  reminds  me  somewhat  of  my  set 
of  the  publication  called  The  World's  Best 
Literature,  in  which  Mr.  Dent  on  J.  Snider 
(of  Ohio)  occupies  twenty-six  pages,  and 
Socrates,  sixteen. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  AUTOGRAPH  MARKET 

A  Stately  Beggar — Percy  Fitzgerald — Charles  Robinson's 
Article — Dr.  Brownson's  Joke — Edward  Eggleston — Glad- 
stone —  Henry  James  Byron  —  Lawrence  Mendenhall's 
Paper — Its  Follies — Dr.  William  B.  Sprague — Buying 
Autographs — Laurence  Hutton's  Views  —  "Doraku"  —  A 
Dinner  Jest — General  Ignorance  about  Autographs — A 
Reporter — Gwinnett. 

THE  beggar  of  autographs  and  his  practices 
have  been  the  subject  of  much  comment  not 
always  good-natured,  and  it  must  be  confessed 
that  he  is  often  irritating,  causing  grievous 
mortification  to  real  collectors,  while  some- 
times he  is  merely  ridiculous.  Mr.  C.  E. 
Goodspeed,  of  Boston,  has  supplied  me  with 
many  curiosities  connected  with  the  autograph 
mania,  and  he  lately  presented  to  me  a  speci- 
men of  the  impressive  in  mendicancy,  covering 
two  folio  pages  and  bearing  date  October  n, 
1844.  If  the  pear -headed  king  of  the  French 
did  not  hasten  to  yield  to  the  eloquence  of 

78 


Hutograpb  flDarfcet          79 


this  request,  which  seems  to  have  emanated 
from  a  source  no  less  dignified  than  an  English 
Custom-House,  he  richly  deserved  to  lose  the 
crown  which  was  in  fact  plucked  from  his  brow 
about  four  years  later.  The  epistle  reads  as 
follows  : 

To  his  Most  Gracious  Majesty  Louis  Philippe,  King 
of  the  French  ; 

May  it  please  Your  Majesty  : 

Having  succeeded  in  accumulating  an  extensive 
collection  of  autographs  of  the  most  illustrious  and 
eminent  personages  throughout  Europe,  I  regret  that 
all  my  efforts  to  enrich  my  list  with  that  of  Your 
Majesty,  have  been  hitherto  unavailing. 

In  expressing  the  hope  that  Your  Majesty  may 
graciously  be  pleased  to  condescend  to  supply  the 
vacant  niche  in  my  collection,  I  throw  myself  entirely 
upon  the  urbanity  that  distinguishes  Your  Majesty's 
character,  and  seek  pardon  for  this  act  of  presumption. 

Permit  me,  Royal  Sir,  to  offer  my  heartfelt  congrat- 
ulations on  Your  Majesty's  visit  to  our  shores,  and 
with  dutiful  obedience  and  the  most  deferential  sub- 
mission, 
lam, 

Your  Majesty's  most  humble  and  very  faithful 
servant,  E  -  B  -  . 

This  address  to  monarchy  is  more  elaborate 
and  diffuse,  yet  less  truthful  and  sincere  than 
the  one  which  is  said  to  have  been  made  to 


80     IRambles  in  Hutograpb  !lant> 

King  Christian  by  a  product  of  the  bounding 
West  who  happened  to  be  American  Minister 
to  Denmark.  The  courteous  sovereign  had 
just  "treated"  him  to  a  "drink,"  and  when 
the  ceremony  was  over,  the  envoy  of  the  great 
Republic  remarked:  "King,  that  whiskey  of 
yours  is  no  good.  / '//  send  you  some  that 
will  make  your  hair  curl."  I  understand  that 
he  kept  his  word  so  far  as  sending  the  whiskey 
was  concerned;  but  whether  it  affected  the 
King's  hirsute  adornments  in  the  manner 
promised,  history  fails  to  record 

Percy  Fitzgerald,  who  is  responsible  for 
more  sloppy  books  than  almost  any  modern 
writer,  has,  of  course,  a  few  words  to  say  about 
the  autograph  beggar,  characterised  by  his 
customary  ineptitude.  In  his  Memories  of 
an  Author  he  refers  to  the  letters  of  apprecia- 
tion written  to  authors,  boasting  that  he  has 
received  such  letters  "from  America,  Austra- 
lia, Denmark,  Norway,  Iceland."  I  should 
think  that  he  might  have  had  a  large  number 
from  Iceland.  He  adds: 

The  author  must  be  on  his  guard,  however,  against 
the  collectors,  of  whom  there  are  a  great  number,  and 


Eutograpb  flDarfcet          81 


who  season  their  application  with  a  feigned  admiration. 
The  ordinary  writer  must  not  lay  the  flattering  unc- 
tion to  his  soul  that  his  handwriting  is  desired  on 
account  of  his  celebrity.  It  is  wanted  for  strictly 
commercial  purposes,  for  completing  sets  of  auto- 
graphs, for  "  Grangerismg  "  books  and  the  like,  or  for 
illustrating  topographical  histories,  where  a  specimen 
of  the  native's  handwriting  comes  in  handily.  Fors- 
ter's  Life  of  Dickens  is  a  favourite  work  for  "  Granger- 
ising."  The  present  writer  figures  in  it  passim;  his 
writing,  therefore,  is  desirable  and  a  necessity.  I 
am  too  modest  to  put  it  on  any  higher  ground 
than  this. 

His  "modesty"  will  never  hurt  him  much. 
I  do  not  know  what  "topographical  history" 
his  autograph  would  adorn,  unless  it  be  the 
History  of  Noodleland.  Is  the  "completion 
of  a  set  of  autographs  "  necessarily  "  a  commer- 
cial purpose"?  Would  Mr.  Broadley  admit 
that  asking  an  autograph  for  "Granger- 
ising  a  book"  (as  if  one  could  Grangerise 
anything  else)  was  "a  commercial  purpose"? 
The  conclusion  that  to  request  an  autograph 
for  a  set  or  for  extra-illustration  implies  that 
the  person  addressed  has  no  "celebrity"  is  an 
excellent  example  of  Mr.  Fitzgerald's  powers 
of  reasoning.  One  suspects  that  the  whole 


82      Itombles  in  Hutograpb 


paragraph  owes  its  existence  to  a  wish  to  dis- 
play the  writer's  alleged  intimacy  with  Dick- 
ens; I  discover  only  three  references  to 
Fitzgerald  in  the  Life  by  Forster,  although 
passim  means  "everywhere,  all  through." 

Some  years  ago  the  Cosmopolitan  Magazine 
published  an  article  by  a  Mr.  Charles  Robin- 
son —  described  as  a  journalist,  who  was 
''  privately  educated  for  the  bar."  It  was  a 
shocking  revelation  of  the  methods  of  the 
pseudo-collector,  calculated  to  make  even  one 
of  the  Public  Library  lions  turn  red  for  shame  ; 
and  the  writer  appeared  to  be  utterly  uncon- 
scious of  his  own  turpitude  —  rather  proud  of 
it  in  fact.  Heaven  knows  what  he  would 
have  been  guilty  of  doing  if  he  had  been 
publicly  and  not  privately  educated  for  the 
bar.  Practices  like  those  which  he  confesses 
are  what  make  the  name  of  "autograph 
collector"  odious  to  people  who  do  not  under- 
stand that  there  are  many  different  varieties 
of  the  genus.  How  a  decent  man  can  consider 
it  gentlemanly  or  proper  to  assert  what  is 
untrue  and  to  deceive  others  merely  to  obtain 
their  autographs,  is  beyond  my  comprehen- 


Gbe  Hutograpb  fl&arfcet          83 

sion.  This  individual  tells  us  that  Horace 
Greeley  called  the  autograph  hunters  "those 
mosquitoes  of  literature."  After  reading  Mr. 
Robinson's  painful  exposure  of  his  own  moral 
obliquity,  I  do  not  wonder  that  they  were  so 
described  by  one  who  might  be  characterised 
as  "the  bumblebee  of  politics." 

Greeley  himself  has  furnished  numerous  an- 
ecdotes of  an  autographic  nature  to  the  press 
humourists,  such  as  the  one  about  his  letter 
discharging  an  incompetent  printer  which 
that  person  used  for  years  as  a  letter  of  recom- 
mendation. There  is  also  another,  which  has 
been  told  of  many  magnates,  about  his  writing 
to  an  applicant,  "I  never  send  my  autograph 
to  any  one.  Yours  truly,  Horace  Greeley." 
I  happen  to  have  a  letter  written  by  the  loco- 
foco  Universalist  who  became  a  prominent 
Catholic,  Orestes  Augustus  Brownson,  which 
reads  thus: 


ELIZABETH,  NEW  JERSEY,  Jan.  17, 1864. 
MY  DEAR  LADY  :     I  make  it  a  rule  never  to  answer 
a  letter  requesting  my  autograph. 
Very  truly  your  obedient  servant, 

0.  A.  BROWNSON. 


84      IRambles  in  Hutograpb  %ant> 

Perhaps  the  reverend  gentleman  was  joking 
with  the  "Dear  Lady,"  but  if  so,  I  think  it 
must  have  been  the  solitary  joke  of  his  long 
life. 

This  odd  way  of  protesting  that  you  cannot 
or  will  not  do  a  certain  thing  when  you  are  in 
the  very  act  of  doing  it  is  illustrated  by  another 
letter  which  is  also  in  my  possession.  Edward 
Eggleston  wrote  to  Mr.  Dorlon,  who  was  an 
arrant  autograph  beggar  forty  years  ago  and 
whose  scraps  still  turn  up  occasionally  among 
the  "cheap  lots": 

BROOKLYN,  May  2Oth,  1873. 
WM.  L.  DORLON  ESQ. 

MY  DEAR  SIR: 

Writing  an  autograph  letter  is  a  thing  I  never 
could  do,  especially  when  I  have  nothing  to  write 
about.  I  should  like  to  oblige  you  by  sending  you 
something  but  you  must  excuse  me. 

Very  Respectfully  yours, 

EDWD  EGGLESTON 

This  was  before  the  days  of  the  typewriter, 
and  like  the  man  who  had  been  talking  prose 
all  his  life  without  knowing  it,  Mr.  Eggleston 
seems  to  have  been  unaware  that  every  letter 


Hutograpb  flDarfcet          85 


he  had  ever  written  with  his  own  hand  was 
"an  autograph  letter." 

I  had  indulged  in  the  hope  that  I  had  come 
upon  an  example  more  illustrious  in  its  origin  ; 
but  while  the  handwriting  is  not  wholly  unlike 
that  of  Mr.  Gladstone,  I  have  reluctantly 
reached  the  conclusion  that  it  is  the  produc- 
tion of  some  imitative  private  secretary. 

10  DOWNING  STREET. 

WHITEHALL. 

Mr.  Gladstone  much  regrets  that  the  applications 
which  he  receives  for  his  autograph,  from  persons  with 
whom  he  has  not  the  honour  of  being  acquainted,  are 
so  numerous  that  he  is  obliged  to  make  it  a  rule  not 
to  accede  to  them. 

While  I  am  on  the  subject  of  responses  to 
autograph  beggars,  I  may  well  refer  to  those 
which  are  meant  to  be  "funny"  and  which 
usually  take  the  form  of  allusion  to  cheques 
or  written  pecuniary  obligations.  If  the 
writers  knew  how  little  originality  they  display 
they  might  perhaps  refrain  from  such  face- 
tiousness.  An  example  of  this  sort  of  thing 
is  afforded  by  Henry  James  Byron,  the  drama- 
tist, who  writes: 


86      Gambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanb 

HAYMARKET  THEATRE. 

Oct.  31—1875- 
MY  DEAR  SIR: 

You  appear  to  consider  my  autograph  a  desirable 
thing;  the  only  way  to  prove  its  utter  and  complete 
worthlessness  is  to  place  I.  O.  U.  over  the  signature  of 

Yours  faithfully, 

H.  J.  BYRON 

The  Bancrofts  in  their  naive  Recollections  of 
Sixty  Years  Ago  (published  in  1909)  speak  of 
Henry  J.  Byron  as  "the  celebrated  author  of 
the  brilliant  series  of  Strand  burlesques." 
The  examples  they  give  of  his  wit — which 
correspond  with  that  of  the  highly  comic  letter 
just  quoted — arouse  no  regret  that  the  "bril- 
liant burlesques"  have  faded  into  oblivion. 
Now  and  then  we  lament  over  the  inane  and 
silly  "musical  comedies"  of  the  present  day, 
but  they  are  no  worse  than  Byron's — which 
were  made  up  chiefly  of  English  puns,  and 
those  of  the  latter  part  of  the  last  century  were 
of  the  most  distressing  and  soul-harrowing 
character. 

Another  illustration  of  the  way  in  which  the 
laudable  occupation  of  collecting  autographs  is 
misrepresented  by  people  who  masquerade  as 


Hutograpb  flftarfcet         87 


collectors,  may  be  found  in  a  short  article  pub- 
lished in  some  magazine  whose  name  escapes 
me,  by  Mr.  Lawrence  Mendenhall,  under  the 
title  of  '  '  Among  My  Autographs.  "  It  is  rather 
colourless  in  the  main,  profusely  adorned 
with  facsimiles,  but  it  lacks  the  exceedingly 
offensive  features  of  Mr.  Charles  Robinson's 
effusion.  Among  other  things,  Mr.  Menden- 
hall proclaims,  in  that  large,  generalising  way, 
as  if  he  had  been  "retained  to  defend,"  that 
"autograph  collectors  are  by  nature  the  most 
plausible,  innocent,  and  truthful  beings  in  the 
world  ;  it  is  only  the  stubbornness  of  our  victims 
which  causes  us  unfortunate  beings  to  resort 
to  subterfuge."  There  it  is  again!  Uncon- 
sciously he  shows  the  cloven  foot  ;  or,  to  mix 
the  metaphors,  he  suffers  the  lion's  skin  to  slip 
from  his  head  and  shoulders.  Real  collectors 
do  not  want  his  sorry  excuses;  they  do  not 
resort  to  subterfuge  at  all;  they  have  no  "vic- 
tims"; they  scorn  to  pester  people  of  dis- 
tinction with  mendicant  letters.  A  decent 
self-respect  would  restrain  them  from  such  per- 
formances if  they  had  any  disposition  to  resort 
to  them.  The  author  of  the  brief  dissertation 


88      IRambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanfc 

volunteers  some  other  suggestions  which  afford 
good  evidence  that  he  was  only  learning  his 
alphabet  as  a  collector.  In  regard  to  preserv- 
ing autographs  he  solemnly  remarks:  "The 
important  point,  in  my  opinion,  is  to  keep  all 
specimens  flat,  letters  especially  to  be  un- 
folded, and  to  remain  so,  in  order  to  avoid 
handling."  This  advice  is  good  enough,  if 
quite  elementary;  but  he  might  as  well  tell  us 
not  to  use  them  as  book-marks  or  not  to  give 
them  to  the  baby  to  play  with.  He  goes  on 
to  instruct  us  how  "signatures"  should  be 
neatly  pasted  (corners  only)  with  flour-paste, 
upon  cards  of  uniform  size.  Except  with 
regard  to  those  of  men  whose  letters  or  docu- 
ments are  practically  unattainable,  the  best 
way  to  arrange  signatures  is  to  pile  them  up 
neatly  in  the  middle  of  the  back-yard  and  set 
fire  to  them;  or,  if  that  seems  objectionable, 
to  bestow  them  upon  some  bright  little  boy 
as  ornaments  for  his  little  album.  Pace  Mr. 
Broadley,  they  may  be  good  enough  to  use  for 
extra-illustration  purposes.  Why  should  any 
rational  being,  "erect  upon  two  legs  and  bear- 
ing the  outward  semblance  of  a  man,"  write  to 


Gbe  Hutograpb  flDarfeet          89 

another  man  for  his  signature  when  he  can  buy 
almost  any  one  he  wants  from  Mr.  Benjamin 
by  an  expenditure  of  a  trifle  more  than  the 
cost  of  paper,  envelope,  and  postage,  and  that 
too  without  bringing  discredit  upon  what, 
when  practised  properly,  is  a  dignified  pursuit? 
Yet  I  must  do  Mr.  Mendenhall  the  justice 
to  concede  that  he  has  some  warrant  in  assum- 
ing that  in  the  past  respectable  collectors 
"wrote  for  autographs," — even  the  illustrious 
divine,  Doctor  William  B.  Sprague  of  Albany, 
the  revered  and  honoured  pioneer  of  American 
autograph  collectors.  I  was  slightly  shocked 
when  I  found  the  evidence  of  it  in  an  interest- 
ing letter  of  Mr.  John  Pierce  published  in  an 
Albany  newspaper  in  1909.  Mr.  Pierce  quotes 
a  passage  from  Abdy's  Journal  of  a  Residence 
and  Tour  in  the  United  States  in  the  Year  1834, 
describing  a  visit  to  Dr.  Sprague. 


He  had  [wrote  Abdy]  a  singular  taste  for  collecting 
autograph  signatures  of  persons  remarkable  in  their 
generation  for  something  or  other.  He  showed  me  a 
considerable  number — many  of  them  of  very  equivo- 
cal celebrity.  There  were  some  of  an  early  date; 
and  others  more  "modern  instances."  He  had  the 


90     IRambles  in  Hutograpb  %anb 

signs  manual  of  Lord  Teignmouth — Lord  Bexley — and 
Sir  Francis  Burdett; — all  obtained  from  these  dis- 
tinguished personages  in  reply  to  letters  he  had  written 
to  request  the  honour  of  having  specimens  of  their 
handwriting.  He  had  sent  four — the  fourth  received 
no  answer.  He  asked  me  to  guess  who  it  was;  after 
telling  the  names  I  was  right — it  was  Lord  Brougham. 
He  had  made  application  of  a  similar  kind  to  upwards 
of  fifty  public  characters  in  his  own  country,  and  had, 
with  one  or  two  exceptions,  attributable  to  accident, 
met  with  obliging  and  courteous  replies. 


That  guess  about  Brougham  was  not  a  remark- 
able one. 

But  that  was  in  a  time  when,  as  Mr.  Pierce 
remarks,  "it  was  easy  to  receive  as  a  gift  that 
which  we  are  now  unable  to  buy,"  and  he 
might  have  added,  "when  it  was  difficult  to 
buy  what  we  can  now  obtain  for  a  trifling  sum." 
There  were  no  regular  dealers,  in  this  country 
at  least,  and  we  were  not  favoured  with  the 
showers  of  catalogues  which  pour  forth  from 
London,  Paris,  New  York,  Chicago,  Berlin, 
and  even  Syracuse,  N.  Y.  Auction  sales 
there  were,  but  not  many.  The  collector's 
task  in  those  days  was  far  different  from  that 
of  present  times  and  required  something 


Hutosrapb  flDarfeet          91 


more  than  a  laudable  curiosity  and  a  plethoric 
bank  account.  It  will  be  observed,  however, 
that  Doctor  Sprague  did  not  resort  to  any  of 
Mr.  Mendenhall's  "subterfuges."  He  asked 
plainly  for  what  he  wanted,  and  being  a 
doctor  of  divinity  of  well-earned  repute,  he 
generally  got  what  he  asked  for.  He  himself 
was  generous  in  his  gifts  to  others. 

Mr.  Mendenhall  naively  assures  us  that  an 
"almost  necessary  adjunct  and  incentive  to 
the  collector  is  a  good  biographical  dictionary" 
I  like  that  idea  of  an  "incentive";  it  cheers 
me  to  fancy  a  collector,  his  enthusiasm  fired 
by  a  dictionary,  sallying  forth  for  an  attack 
upon  the  great,  with  his  biographical  compen- 
dium in  one  hand  and  his  precious  album  in 
the  other,  reading  as  he  runs  some  such  item 
as:  "Dickens,  Charles:  celebrated  novelist. 
Born  1812,"  and  exclaiming,  "Oh,  yes!  Must 
have  him.  Let  me  see,  where  does  he  live? 
Oh,  confound  it  —  he  's  dead.  Must  hunt  up 
his  family." 

And  then,  poor  youth  —  for  surely  he  is  a 
youth  —  he  must  have  "a  catalogue  of  every 
signature  and  letter,  as  well  as  of  all  duplicates, 


92      IRambles  in  Hutograpb 


enabling  him  to  turn  to  any  specimen  in  a 
moment."  It  will  be  observed  that  he  ignores 
documents  and  author's  manuscripts  entirely. 
Why,  a  true  collector,  even  if  he  has  his 
thousands  of  letters  and  documents,  ought  to 
be  able  to  lay  his  hand  on  the  one  he  seeks, 
in  the  dark.  I  do  not  mean  to  be  understood 
as  disparaging  the  value  of  a  catalogue;  it  is 
a  good  thing  to  have  as  a  record  ;  but  not  worth 
much  as  a  guide  to  locality,  if  the  autographs 
are  properly  classified.  One  of  the  great 
pleasures  is  to  shift  them  about,  to  rearrange 
them,  "fuss"  over  them  —  not  disturbing  the 
classification  —  and  when  you  do  that,  you 
quickly  make  mince-meat  of  your  index- 
catalogue.  But  perhaps  I  am  wrong;  I  often 
am.  Each  man  must  have  his  own  way  with 
his  collection,  although  it  may  be  made  up 
chiefly  of  "signatures."  He  may  even  frame 
his  specimens,  put  glass  over  them,  and  hang 
them  on  the  wall.  I  once  had  a  D.S.  of  an  old 
Pensylvania  Governor  which  some  one  had 
treated  in  that  preposterous  fashion. 

Possibly  there  are  some  who  think  it  a 
horrible  waste  to  spend  money  for  autographs. 


Hutograpb  flDarfcet         93 


My  experience  teaches  me  that  in  this  world 
we  seldom  get  much  of  value  without,  in 
some  way,  paying  money  for  it,  and  it  seems 
to  me  that  to  purchase  and  pay  for  what  we 
acquire  is  considerably  more  praiseworthy 
and  respectable  than  to  go  about  begging  for  it. 
The  late  Laurence  Hutton  —  peace  to  his 
ashes  !  —  would  never  tolerate  in  his  portfolios 
an  autograph  letter  not  written  to  him  per- 
sonally and,  of  course,  without  solicitation. 
But  he  did  not  consider  himself  a  collector, 
and  he  had  an  unusually  large  number  of 
literary  people  in  the  circle  of  his  friendship, 
so  that  his  was  a  peculiar  case.  On  the  same 
principle,  perhaps,  he  should  have  limited  the 
contents  of  his  delightful  library  to  books 
given  to  him  by  the  author,  but  he  was  fond  of 
books  and  I  do  not  believe  that  he  cared  much 
for  autographs;  he  had  quite  a  number  of 
them,  but  appeared  to  regard  them  as  mere 
interesting  incidents.  As  opposed  to  Hutton 
Mr.  Broadley  is  so  tender  of  letters  written 
to  himself  that  he  says  in  his  preface:  "I  shall 
carefully  refrain  from  using  any  letter  which 
has  ever  been  addressed  to  me  personally." 


94      Gambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanb 

True,  Broadley  was  referring  to  the  printing 
of  them  while  Hutton  was  thinking  only  of  the 
keeping  of  them,  but  so  far  as  their  privacy 
is  concerned  the  principle  is  practically  the 
same,  and  the  two  men  simply  looked  at  the 
question  from  different  points  of  view. 

It  would  be  an  extraordinary  thing,  and  in 
fact  an  undesirable  thing,  if  all  men  were  in 
agreement  about  collecting.  A  few  days  ago 
I  read  that  Lafcadio  Hearn's  "life-hobby — 
or  doraku  as  the  Japanese  call  it — was  the 
collecting  of  Japanese  pipes,  which  made  a 
sentimental  appeal  to  him."  Pipes  of  any 
kind,  Japanese  or  otherwise,  seem  queer 
objects  of  desire  and  not  likely  to  kindle 
sentiment  in  the  hearts  of  most  people,  but 
they  did  in  Hearn's  and  that  was  enough.  It 
is  gratifying  to  have  a  new  word  in  the  place 
of  that  ugly  one,  "hobby" ;  "fad  "  is  not  much 
better  and  lacks  dignity.  "Doraku"  has  a 
more  convincing  sound,  although  the  obtuse 
person  might  imagine  that  it  is  something  to 
eat  or  a  new  sort  of  disease.  It  evidently 
means  a  little  more  than  "hobby."  Perhaps 
the  collecting  of  autographs  might  be 


Hutograpb  flDarfcet         95 


"doraku,"  the  collecting  of  "Signers"  a 
"hobby,"  and  the  collecting  of  Signers'  let- 
ters dated  in  1776  a  "fad."  Doubtless  the 
unhumorous  and  serious-minded  folk  who 
devote  their  energies  to  the  present-day 
"doraku"  of  uplifting  humanity,  would  call 
it  all  nonsense. 

Provokingly  exasperating  is  the  pervasive 
perversity  of  people  who  ought  to  know  better. 
At  a  dinner  given  this  winter  to  a  well-known 
playwright,  the  guest  of  honour  was  moved  to 
tell  a  tale,  one  of  those  merry  after-dinner 
tales  we  know  so  well,  about  a  critic  who  at 
another  dinner  given  to  Sir  Gilbert  Parker, 
asked  that  eminent  literary  and  parliamentary 
gentleman  for  his  autograph  on  a  card. 
"What!"  said  the  dramatist  to  the  critic, 
"you  are  not  collecting  autographs  at  your 
time  of  life!"  The  point  of  the  side-splitting 
story  was  that  the  critic  replied  that  he  had  to 
make  a  speech  and  wished  to  be  able  to  say 
that  he  had  read  something  Sir  Gilbert  had 
written.  But  to  me  the  real  point  was  that 
the  writer  of  plays  considered  it  to  be  a  matter 
of  course  that  the  collector  of  autographs  must 


96      IRambles  in  Hutograpb  !!Lan& 

be  a  juvenile  person,  not  beyond  the  years  of 
indiscretion.  He  was  thinking  again  of  the 
signature  collector,  whose  accumulations  bear 
about  the  same  relation  to  a  veritable  collec- 
tion as  a  baby's  picture-blocks  bear  to  the 
contents  of  the  Pitti  Palace  or  of  the  Louvre 
before  it  lost  the  Mono,  Lisa;  I  will  not  say, 
as  the  latest  play  by  Augustus  Thomas  to  a 
drama  of  Shakespeare,  for  that  would  seem 
ill-natured. 

Even  educated  persons  often  know  little 
and  care  less  about  autographs.  A  well- 
known  Boston  collector  told  me  of  an  accom- 
plished lady  who  said  to  him  that  she 
"wanted  so  much  to  look  at  his  book  of  auto- 
graphs." He  has  one  hundred  and  sixty-five 
volumes  of  them;  she  thought  he  had  an 
album!  Some  months  ago  a  clever  and 
manifestly  intelligent  young  man  representing 
one  of  our  leading  journals  called  upon  me  for 
the  declared  purpose  of  finding  out  what  one 
of  my  autographs  was  my  particular  favourite, 
the  newspaper  readers  of  the  metropolis  hav- 
ing, no  doubt,  an  inexplicable  yearning  for 
that  important  bit  of  information.  "That  is 


Hutograpb  flDarfeet          97 


a  difficult  question  to  answer,"  I  timidly  ven- 
tured to  say.  "If  you  want  to  know  which 
one  I  longest  sought,  which  one  gave  me  the 
most  anxiety  and  perturbation  of  spirit,  the 
most  troublesome  in  the  procuring,  which 
one  caused  the  greatest  diminution  in  the 
amount  of  my  bank-balance  —  I  will  tell  you, 
but  in  all  probability  you  will  not  be  able  to 
tell  me  who  the  man  was.  It  was  the  auto- 
graph of  Button  Gwinnett."  His  counte- 
nance assumed  a  blank  expression  as  he 
said,  "I  never  heard  of  him." 

To  the  collector  it  brought  back  the  old 
story  of  the  man  on  the  railway  train  who 
insisted  upon  talking  to  a  surly  and  uncom- 
municative stranger  about  Grant  when  that 
distinguished  soldier  was  occupying  the  White 
House.  "  Grant!  Who's  Grant?"  growled 
the  stranger.  "Why,  the  President."  "Pres- 
ident of  what?"  "President  of  the  United 
States."  "Oh."  Yet  why  should  the  juve- 
nile reporter,  a  young  man  of  the  present, 
know  anything  of  Button  Gwinnett?  It  was 
almost  an  accident  that  he  signed  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence;  and  in  less  than  a 


98      Gambles  in  Hutograpb  lanb 

year  afterwards  he  fell  a  victim  to  the  pistol  of 
his  fellow-Georgian,  Lachlan  Mclntosh.  It 
seems  strange  nevertheless  that  in  his  forty- 
five  years  of  life  he  left  so  few  written  evidences 
of  his  existence.  He  was  a  merchant  in  Bris- 
tol, England,  and  was  engaged  in  business  in 
Savannah.  He  filled  several  important  offi- 
cial positions.  Yet  there  is  no  holograph 
letter  of  his  in  existence,  so  far  as  I  know.  I 
fondly  believe  that  somewhere  in  the  regions 
of  the  South  unexplored  by  Elliott  Danforth 
or  other  keen  sportsmen,  there  may  yet  be 
found  some  documents  at  least  to  reward  the 
huntsman  and  to  bring  down  many  points 
the  market  value  of  my  poor  little  signature. 


CHAPTER  VI 

PRIVATE  VENDORS  AND  THEIR  WAYS 

Troubles  with  Private  Vendors — Their  Peculiarities — A  L.  S. 
and  L.S. — Collecting  Fosters  the  Virtues — Rogers's  Collection 
— Contentment  <of  Collectors — Their  Patience — C.  De  F. 
Burns  and  his  Ways — Covetousness — Feminine  Collectors 
— Faith  and  Hope. 

I  AM  extremely  averse  to  the  giving  of 
unsolicited  advice ;  a  lawyer  usually  is,  because 
he  expects  not  only  that  his  counsel  will  be 
asked  if  it  is  wanted,  but  that  it  will  be  paid 
for.  Yet  I  cannot  refrain  from  advising  the 
autograph  collector,  if  he  values  his  time  and 
his  peace  of  mind,  to  keep  his  "doraku"  a 
secret  from  the  world,  disclosing  it  only  to 
intimate  friends  or  to  those  trusted  dealers 
who  minister  to  his  cravings.  If  his  mania 
becomes  known  to  mankind  at  large  or  at 
least  to  that  considerable  fraction  which 
reads  the  newspapers,  he  will  be  beset  by 

99 


ioo     "Rambles  in  Hutograpb  lanb 

hordes  of  people  who  possess  what  they 
fondly  regard  as  gems  of  purest  ray  serene 
but  who  are  willing  to  dispose  of  them — for 
a  price.  As  a  rule  this  price  would  be 
high  for  even  a  holograph  letter  of  Shakes- 
peare or  for  the  original  marriage  contract 
of  Adam  and  Eve.  Most  of  these  would- 
be  vendors  have  had  their  imaginations 
aroused  by  finding  in  the  newspapers  oc- 
casional chronicles  of  sales  of  autographs 
for  enormous  sums,  and  really  believe  that 
the  autograph  of  a  person  whose  name  is 
familiar  to  the  world  must  necessarily  be 
more  valuable  than  that  of  a  man  not  so 
famous ;  they  would  be  surprised  to  learn  what 
Mr.  Benjamin  lately  disclosed  to  the  Sun  and 
which  I  found  out  by  personal  experience, 
that  a  letter  of  Mr.  Alfred  Moore,  an  obscure 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  at  the  close  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  commands  ten  times 
the  price  of  a  fairly  good  letter  of  Chief  Justice 
Marshall.  Indeed,  to  advert  to  the  odious 
matter  of  cost,  I  paid  a  larger  sum  for  my 
Moore  letter  than  I  did  for  the  autographs  of 
all  the  Justices  and  Chief  Justices  of  the  Court 


private  IDenfcors  ant>  tbelr  Wa\>0  101 

from  John  Jay  to  Brewer,  and  there  were 
some  choice  letters  among  them  too. 

I  heard  lately  of  a  Boston  lady  who  had  a 
letter  of  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes — the  Auto- 
crat, not  the  Judge — for  which  she  wanted  the 
modest  sum  of  three  hundred  dollars!  In  the 
majority  of  such  cases  of  amusing  overvalua- 
tion, the  parties  are  acting  in  entire  good  faith. 
But  a  few  weeks  ago  a  lady  wrote  to  me  offer- 
ing to  dispose  of  what  she  manifestly  deemed 
to  be  precious  relics — a  White  House  card 
with  the  signature  of  Grover  Cleveland  and 
another  with  that  of  Mrs.  Cleveland.  To  her 
they  were  worth  a  great  deal,  and  I  scarcely 
had  the  heart  to  tell  her  that  they  would  be 
dear  at  a  dollar  apiece;  in  fact  it  would  be 
almost  extravagant  to  pay  that  much  for 
them.  To  private  collectors  such  offers  are 
mere  nuisances,  and  the  unfortunate  indi- 
vidual who  accidentally  becomes  the  victim  of 
them  is  wise  if  he  has  a  set  of  cards  printed 
to  be  sent  to  applicants,  declining  to  consider 
their  proposals. 

Another  reason  why  the  inexperienced  col- 
lector should  be  cautious  about  the  private 


102     IRamblee  in  Hutograpb  Xanfc 

vendor  is,  that  as  a  rule  those  vendors  are 
wholly  unable  to  distinguish  between  a  full 
autograph  letter  and  a  mere  "letter  signed." 
It  is  often  extremely  difficult  for  even  an  expert 
to  decide.  The  letter  of  John  Hart,  the  New 
Jersey  Signer,  which  I  have  in  my  own  col- 
lection is  the  one  reproduced  in  facsimile  in 
Brotherhead's  book,  but  it  is  there  called 
"  A.L.S.,"  which  I  hope  it  is — although  I  am  in 
doubt  about  it,  and  so  was  the  conscientious 
dealer  from  whom  I  procured  it.  Hart  had  a 
secretary  who  wrote  very  much  like  him,  and 
a  comparison  of  the  signature,  which  is  genu- 
ine beyond  dispute,  and  the  body  of  the  letter 
indicates  some  differences  which  make  one 
suspect  that  the  secretary  is  responsible  for  all 
but  the  signature.  Almost  every  one  knows 
that  many  letters  which  pass  for  those  of 
Washington  were  really  written  by  his  aids, 
who,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  imitated 
the  General's  bold  and  flowing  chirography. 
One  of  these  letters  was  offered  to  me  very 
lately,  by  a  lady — the  ladies  seem  to  have  a 
virtual  monopoly  of  that  sort  of  business — 
who  sincerely  believed  that  she  was  the  pos- 


private  lDenfcors  ant>  tbeir  <Wflap0  103 

sessor  of  a  full  autograph  war  letter;  but  she 
was  utterly  mistaken.  Reputable  dealers  will 
not  be  thus  misled  nor  will  they  mislead  their 
customers.  Hence  I  obtrude  another  bit  of 
unsolicited  advice — beware  of  the  private 
vendor! 

As  I  was  about  to  say,  when  I  was  inter- 
rupted by  a  gentleman  who  has  a  veritable 
signature  of  Albert  Edward,  Prince  of  Wales, 
which  he  is  willing  to  part  with  for  a  considera- 
tion, the  amount  whereof  would  be  large  for 
even  a  Kate  Greenaway  or  an  Oscar  Wilde 
(which  for  some  occult  reason  command  stu- 
pendous prices  just  now),  I  verily  believe  that 
the  pursuit  of  autographs  encourages  and 
develops  most  of  the  important  virtues.  I 
have  been  told  by  one  of  those  benefactors  of 
the  human  race,  a  frank  friend,  that  the  truly 
great  do  not  collect  them,  at  least  in  modern 
times.  When  I  cite  Mr.  Morgan,  I  am  assured 
that,  strictly  speaking,  he  is  not  a  mere  auto- 
graph collector,  but  collects  everything  that  is 
worthy  in  books,  pictures,  tapestries,  all  sorts 
of  art  treasures,  and  occasionally  banks  and 
railways;  he  buys  very  rare  manuscripts  as  he 


104    "Rambles  in  Huto$rapb  %anb 

buys  Coptic  records,  and  delights  not  in  the 
cheaper  things  which  so  often  bring  gladness 
to  the  heart  of  us  comparative  paupers. 
When  I  ponder  over  it  I  am  not  sure  that  the 
frank  friend  is  altogether  wrong.  True,  we 
have  had  Doctor  Sprague  and  Bishop  Hurst, 
excellent  divines;  Doctor  Emmet,  our  Nestor; 
and,  as  we  have  seen,  we  numbered  in  our 
ranks  the  genial  gentleman  who  wrote  "I 
Wandered  by  the  Brookside,"  and  who  was 
referred  to  by  Sir  George  Trevelyan  as 

He  whom  men  call  Baron  Houghton 
But  the  gods  call  Dicky  Milnes. 

I  recall  that  Sir  Leslie  Stephen  when  visiting 
this  country  in  the  early  days  of  the  rebellion 
was  profoundly  disgusted  with  the  Honourable 
William  H.  Seward  because  when  Stephen  was 
talking  of  "  Mr.  Mill  "—John Stuart  Mill— Sew- 
ard thought  he  was  speaking  of  "Mr.  Milnes." 
I  am  silly  enough  to  prefer  talking  about 
Dicky  Milnes  to  discussing  that  object  of  my 
personal  hostility,  the  professional  philosopher. 
Then  we  have  Samuel  Rogers,  of  whose 


private  IDenbors  an&  tbeir  Wat>s  105 

collection  a  pleasant  reminiscence  may  be 
found  in  William  Allen  Butler's  Retrospect  of 
Forty  Years,  recently  published.  Mr.  Butler 
tells  us  of  the  banker-poet's  "splendid  three- 
page  letter  of  Washington  to  Hamilton  written 
when  he  was  deliberating  whether  to  serve 
the  second  presidential  term."  In  these  days 
he  would  not  deliberate  even  about  a  third 
term,  but  would  take  without  hesitation  as 
many  cups  of  coffee  as  the  pot  would  hold. 
There  were  also  letters  of  Mozart,  of  Charles 
James  Fox,  Byron  and  Scott,  and  indeed  of 
most  of  Rogers's  "illustrious  contemporaries," 
as  well  as  a  part  of  the  manuscript  of  Waver ly; 
truly  "a  rare  collection,"  as  Mr.  Butler  calls  it. 
Still,  without  argument  or  disputatious  con- 
tention, let  us  concede  that  men  of  conspicuous 
strength,  originality,  and  intellectual  force 
do  not  "collect  autographs."  The  occupation 
is  a  promoter  of  contentment,  a  commendable 
virtue,  although  somewhat  out  of  fashion.  A 
discontented  man  can  never  be  a  good  auto- 
graph collector,  and  almost  every  one  now 
seems  to  be  discontented  about  something. 
Large  numbers  of  people  who  would  ordinarily 


io6    "Rambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanfc 

be  quite  well  satisfied  with  their  condition  and 
circumstances  are  in  the  way  of  being  stirred 
up  by  trouble-finders  who  are  looking  for 
trouble — and  offices.  I  think  it  is  creditable 
to  the  tribe  that  no  autograph  collector,  as 
far  as  I  can  remember,  ever  effected  an  alleged 
"reform"  or  headed  a  sanguinary  revolution. 
The  collector  is  a  peaceful,  contemplative 
person,  as  one  must  be  who  studies  his  letters 
and  manuscripts  and  reflects  upon  all  the  toil, 
strife,  and  struggles  of  the  men  who  wrote  the 
pages  over  which  he  pores,  and  upon  the  futil- 
ity of  most  of  their  strivings .  How  excited  they 
became  over  what,  if  in  their  present  state  they 
take  cognisance  of  mundane  things,  they  must 
now  regard  as  trivial  and  insignificant.  In 
reading  of  some  of  the  disputes  and  squabbles 
whose  existence  is  revealed  in  the  old  letters 
of  statesmen  and  of  authors,  one  thinks  of 
the  famous  quatrain  attributed  to  a  tired 
mother: 

The  cow  is  in  the  hammock, 

The  calf  is  in  the  lake, 
The  baby  's  in  the  garbage-can, 

What  difference  does  it  make? 


private  IDenfcors  anb  tbeir  IDdlaps  107 

I  once  quoted  those  lines  to  a  foreigner  dis- 
posed to  pessimism,  and  he  remarked  with 
the  bland  and  pitying  smile  of  a  foreigner 
engaged  in  wrestling  with  an  example  of 
American  humour,  "Vot  vas  the  baby  doing 
in  the  garbage-can?"  When  Martin  Van 
Buren  wrote  that  Autobiography  never  yet 
printed,  the  manuscript  of  which  rests  placidly 
in  the  Congressional  Library,  and  which, 
like  most  autobiographies,  was  never  finished, 
he  devoted  long  and  dreary  pages  to  the  dis- 
putes between  him  and  Louis  McLane,  which 
are  indescribably  tedious  to  readers  of  this 
generation,  few  of  whom  have  the  most  remote 
idea  of  who  Louis  McLane  was,  and  all  of 
whom  would  find  the  quarrels  of  politicians 
eighty  or  more  years  ago  as  uninteresting  as 
an  old  Patent  Office  Report. 

It  cannot  fail  to  foster  a  spirit  of  content- 
ment in  our  own  bosoms  when  we  observe  the 
anger  which  often  disturbs  celestial  minds, 
and  we  congratulate  ourselves  that  their  woes 
are  not  ours  and  perceive  that  at  the  most 
those  woes  were  not  of  much  consequence. 
The  most  amusing  of  all  are  the  wailings  of 


io8    IRambles  in  Hutograpb 


disappointed  politicians;  some  lamentations 
are  mildly  pathetic,  like  the  records  of  the 
pecuniary  distresses  of  Thomas  De  Quincey, 
from  whose  letters  one  may  infer  that  he  knew 
a  great  deal  more  about  financial  affairs  than 
his  friends  supposed.  By  reading  two  or 
three  of  them  I  have  been  led  to  believe  that 
his  sublime  ignorance  of  money  matters  might 
have  been  in  some  degree  affected  —  for  a 
purpose,  not  so  sinister  or  contemptible  as 
that  of  Harold  Skimpole,  but  of  a  similar 
nature. 

Another  virtue  fostered  by  autograph  col- 
lecting is  that  of  patience.  It  is  a  soul- 
trying  experience  to  wait  for  months  —  nay, 
years  —  to  find  a  satisfactory  letter  of  a  person 
needed  to  make  a  "set"  complete;  to  come 
upon  the  description  of  one  in  a  London 
catalogue,  for  example;  to  order  it  forthwith 
by  mail,  cable  messages  being  somewhat 
expensive  for  the  ordinary  collector,  and  to 
receive  some  weeks  later  the  announcement 
beginning  like  so  many  of  the  British-Boer 
war  despatches,  "We  regret  to  inform  you," 
etc.,  etc.  Gone!  We  feel  sorry  that  we 


private  IDenfcors  anb  tbeit  TWla^e  109 

cannot  look  that  purchaser  in  the  eye  and  tell 
him — well,  as  Dr.  Francis  Landey  Patton 
euphemistically  expressed  it  on  a  recent  occa- 
sion, address  to  him  "a  peremptory  command 
about  his  destiny."  But  we  only  sigh  regret- 
fully and  reflect  that  we  should  have  cabled; 
and  begin  again  the  patient  search  of  lists 
and  catalogues.  In  days  gone  by  I  was  often 
tempted  to  indulge  in  deplorable  invective 
because  of  the  rigorous  principles  of  my  much 
esteemed  friend,  the  late  Charles  De  Forest 
Burns,  who  was  a  skilled  buyer  in  the  time 
when  Plancus  was  Consul,  and  when  I  was 
devoting  more  attention  to  the  works,  prosaic 
and  poetic,  of  the  friends  of  Consul  Plancus 
than  to  the  subject  of  autographs.  Mr. 
Burns  was  a  severe  critic,  and  made  it  a  rule 
never  to  buy,  as  principal  or  agent,  any  auto- 
graph that  was  (a)  in  bad  condition,  (b)  of 
doubtful  authenticity,  or  (c)  "run  up"  to  a 
price  higher  than  he,  Burns,  thought  was  fair 
and  just,  and  his  ideas  of  prices  were  formed 
before  the  cost  of  autographs  had  gone  up  in 
sympathy  with  the  cost  of  living.  To  him 
a  Thomas  Lynch,  Jr.,  signature  was  dear  at 


i  io    IRamblee  In  Hutograpb 


$100  and  the  fact  that  some  dealer  asked  $400 
for  it,  and  that  there  were  those  who  ought  to 
be  glad  to  get  it  at  that  price,  did  not  affect 
his  opinion  in  the  slightest  degree.  The  stern, 
honest  old  Roman  would  growl  when  his 
reasonable  bid  was  exceeded,  but  he  was 
inflexible.  Many  a  time  and  oft  I  have  re- 
ceived from  him  the  message,  "It  was  not  in 
good  condition  and  it  went  at  an  absurdly 
high  price";  and  so  I  lost  it,  whatever  it  was, 
although  I  had  established  no  limit,  and  I 
would  murmur,  with  a  faint  recollection  of 
schoolday  tasks,  "Quousque  tandem,  Cata- 
lina,"  with  something  about  "patientia 
nostra."  But  one  felt  that  the  veteran  could 
always  be  trusted,  and  our  trust  in  our  fellow- 
man,  like  almost  all  the  other  trusts,  seems 
to  be  in  danger  of  being  utterly  destroyed 
nowadays. 

There  may  be  some  slight  foundation  for 
the  charge  that  the  collector  occasionally 
lapses  into  the  sin  of  covetousness.  It  is  not 
envy.  When  we  find  that  the  unpleasant 
character  known  as  "  another  "  —  the  one  whom 
the  object  of  our  youthful  affections  usually 


private  \Denfcor0  anb  tbeir  UCla^0  m 

loves  in  preference  to  ourselves — possesses 
the  letter  or  manuscript  we  long  to  call  our 
own,  we  do  not  envy  him,  but  we  cannot  help 
coveting  his  treasure.  It  is  not,  however,  that 
odious  form  of  covetousness  which  leads  men 
to  slay  and  to  rob.  I  have  coveted  exceed- 
ingly some  of  the  fine  things  in  the  British 
Museum,  but  not  to  the  extent  of  wishing 
to  destroy  the  Museum  or  even  to  break  the 
glass  in  its  windows — a  manifestation  of 
uncontrollable  desideration  permitted,  only  to 
' '  the  female  of  the  species. ' '  This  reminds  me 
of  the  rarity  of  feminine  autograph  collectors; 
they  exist,  but  there  are  not  many  of  them. 
Perhaps  if  they  had  more  autographs  they 
would  not  be  so  crazy  about  voting.  I  fear 
that  if  they  finally  obtain  the  glorious  privilege 
of  going  to  the  polls  and  putting  in  their 
ballots  with  those  of  Micky  and  Giuseppe  and 
Sambo,  not  to  speak  of  Biddy  and  Topsy  and 
Maria  Lucia,  they  may  feel  about  it  as  I  some- 
times do  after  acquiring  a  long-sought-for 
autograph,  that  it  is  not  after  all  such  a 
wonderful  thing  as  I  thought  it  was,  and  that 
there  are  multitudes  of  other  things  more 


ii2    "Rambles  in  Butograpb  %anb 

worth  having.  In  boyhood  I  yearned  much  for 
cream-cakes,  and  once,  on  receiving  from  an 
opulent  and  generous  uncle  an  unexpected 
half-dollar,  I  immediately  expended  the  entire 
amount  of  my  fortune  in  the  purchase  of 
cream-cakes.  Thereafter,  for  a  considerable 
period  of  time,  I  abhorred  the  very  sight  of  a 
cream-cake.  Possibly  it  may  be  so  with  the 
suffragists. 

But  it  is  better  to  stray  back  to  the  more 
attractive  subject  of  virtues;  to  most  people, 
except  "Progressive"  and  peripatetic  orators, 
it  is  pleasanter  to  talk  about  virtues  than 
about  vices.  The  collector  is  distinguished 
for  faith,  hope,  and  charity.  Sometimes  his 
faith  is  so  great  that  he  will  accept  a  specimen 
bearing  a  date  some  years  after  that  of  the 
demise  of  the  individual  who  is  credited  with 
its  authorship.  Most  of  us  can  boast  of  ex- 
amples of  such  posthumous  activity.  Car- 
lyle  once  wrote  of  a  letter  ascribed  to  Frederick 
the  Great,  "I  know  abundantly  little  of 
Frederick's  autograph  signature,  but  this 
cannot  be  his,  being  dated  about  ten  years 
after  his  death."  I  can  point  to  some  which 


private  IDenfcors  ant>  tbeir  TKHa\>0  113 

on  their  face  purport  to  have  been  written 
some  years  before  the  birth  of  their  putative 
parent.  Hope,  which  springs  eternal  in  the 
collector's  breast,  fondly  cherished  although 
often  unfulfilled,  is  familiar  to  us.  We  have 
charity  for  all,  even  for  those  who  write  to  us 
from  divers  quarters  of  the  habitable  globe 
offering  gems  of  great  price,  such  as  "franks" 
of  British  noblemen,  authentic  signatures  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Grover  Cleveland  actually 
penned  at  the  White  House,  holograph  letters 
of  Washington  written  by  aides-de-camp,  and 
albums  adorned  by  the  chirography  of  Con- 
gressmen. We  are  careful  to  answer  all  these 
communications  and  waste  our  surplus  in  pay- 
ing postage,  and  are  often  more  than  repaid 
for  our  trouble  by  the  generous  acts  of  others, 
as,  in  my  case,  when  the  distinguished  and 
kindly  New  York  banker  with  his  own  hands 
delivered  to  me  a  beautiful  manuscript  of 
Rudyard  Kipling,  which  would  be  an  ornament 
to  any  collection.  Such  an  act  of  benefi- 
cence makes  up  for  all  the  time  and  trouble 
devoted  to  inconsequential  correspondence. 
Apropos  of  blind  faith,  I  lately  bought  an 


ii4    IRamMes  in  Hutograpb  %anb 

inkstand  said  to  have  belonged  to  General 
Burgoyne  and  to  Daniel  Webster,  together 
with  a  quill  pen  used  by  the  godlike  Daniel, 
merely  because  the  vendor  informed  me  that 
the  tale  was  true;  and  even  the  fact  that  the 
quill  manifestly  came  from  a  bird  of  extremely 
modern  origin  has  not  shaken  my  confidence 
— in  the  inkstand.  But  why  should  he  have 
lugged  in  Webster?  The  inkstand  looks  as  if 
it  might  have  been  the  property  of  Julius 
Caesar,  and  the  seller  might  have  added  the 
assurance  that  the  goose  was  one  of  the 
immortal  flock  which  saved  the  Capitol. 


CHAPTER  VII 


COLLECTORS  AND  THEIR  METHODS 


Courtesy  to  Collectors — Miss  Braddon — Longfellow — Holmes — 
Bryant — Napier  of  Magdala — Mrs.  Fields — Bryan  Waller 
Procter — Robert  Southey — Rideing's  Story  about  John 
Watson — Gladstone  and  Robert  G.  Ingersoll — Laurence 
Hutton  and  his  Characteristics. 


REPREHENSIBLE  though  it  may  be  to  write 
to  eminent  persons  for  their  autographs,  yet 
the  practice  is  not  wholly  without  benefit;  for 
occasionally  it  induces  a  revelation  of  the 
true  character  of  the  recipient.  Some  men 
are  impatient  and  fretful  at  such  requests, 
some  are  pleased — considering  them  as  testi- 
monials to  their  greatness — and  some  are  so 
kindly  by  nature  that  they  are  willing  to 
suffer  inconvenience  in  order  not  to  give 
offence  or  wound  the  feelings  of  others.  I 
have  cited  elsewhere  some  examples  of  the 
divers  forms  of  reply  proceeding  from  dis- 

115 


n6    IRambles  in  Hutoarapb 


tinguished  individuals  —  Stevenson,  Kipling, 
Froude,  Horace  Mann,  Lord  Rosebery,  George 
F.  Watts,  and  others,  and  shall  not  reproduce 
them. 

Miss  Braddon,  once  famous  but  not  well- 
remembered  now,  writes  rather  gracefully 
and  she  certainly  "  aimed  to  please.  "  She  said  : 

DEAR  SIR  :  —  The  kindly  enthusiasm  of  my  American 
readers  brings  me  so  many  applications  for  autographs 
that  you  must  please  to  forgive  my  long  neglect  of 
your  letters.  Your  perseverance  under  discourage- 
ment certainly  deserves  the  poor  reward  of  these  few 
lines.  Nothing  in  my  literary  career  has  been  more 
pleasing  to  me  than  the  recognition  of  the  American 
public.  I  trust  I  may  live  to  see  your  vast  and  most 
interesting  country. 

Very  truly  yours  — 

M.  E.  BRADDON 
RICHMOND. 
ENGLAND. 
April  15,  1875. 

Mr.  Broadley  quotes  several  of  my  illus- 
trations of  the  rule  which  seems  to  prevail  — 
the  greater  the  man,  the  greater  the  gentleness 
and  courtesy.  The  innate  graciousness  of 
Longfellow  and  of  Holmes  in  the  matter  of 
autographs  has  been  referred  to;  I  am  sorry 


Collectors  anfc  tbeir  fl&etbobs    117 

that  Lowell  was  so  surly  about  it.  This 
surliness  goes  to  show  why  Lowell  was  the 
object  of  admiration  rather  than  of  affection, 
and  why  even  those  who  know  the  men  only 
by  their  writings  become  personally  fond  of 
Holmes  and  Longfellow  but  not  of  James 
Russell  Lowell. 

Whatever  may  be  the  contemporary  esti- 
mate of  Longfellow  as  a  poet,  it  cannot  be 
denied  that  his  character  as  a  man  remains  a 
precious  possession  of  his  countrymen.  He 
was  most  indulgent  towards  the  throng  of 
bores  which  beset  him  without  mercy.  The 
applicants  for  autographs  were  never  re- 
pulsed, but  were  promptly  answered  with  an 
enclosed  signature,  "  already  prepared  in  ad- 
vance in  a  moment  of  leisure."  To  some  of 
the  most  inconsiderate  he  often  sent  a  slip 
which  he  had  caused  to  be  printed  for  the 
benefit  of  the  careless,  giving  them  a  piece  of 
advice  which  one  not  familiar  with  the  ways 
of  the  autograph  hunter  would  scarcely  think 
necessary.  "In  applying  for  an  autograph, 
always  enclose  an  addressed  and  stamped 
envelope."  It  is  related  of  him  that  "for 


n8    IRambles  in  Butograpb  Xanb 

hours  of  a  morning  he  would  be  at  his  table 
writing  scores  of  autographs  for  far-away 
strangers."  In  his  Journal  under  the  date  of 
January  9,  1857,  he  writes:  "Yesterday  I 
wrote,  sealed,  and  directed  seventy  auto- 
graphs. To-day  I  added  five  or  six  more  and 
mailed  them. "  "  Such  patience, ' '  well  says  one 
of  his  biographers,  "might  spring  in  part  from 
fondness  for  even  undiscnminating  admiration ; 
but  it  arose  still  more  from  unfailing  benignity 
of  nature.  Why  should  people  wish  to  see  him, 
or  have  his  autograph,  except  to  add  a  pleasure 
to  their  lives?  The  pleasure  was  granted  in 
every  case  that  was  at  all  reasonable." 

He  tells  of  one  letter  from  a  person  wholly 
unknown  to  him,  which  he  would  not  answer ; 
and  silence  was  surely  the  most  charitable 
response.  The  applicant  said : 


Now  I  want  you  to  write  me  a  few  lines  for  a  young 
lady's  album,  to  be  written  as  an  Acrostic  to  read 
My  Dearest  One.  If  you  will  please  imagine  yourself 
a  young  man  loving  a  beautiful  young  lady,  who  has 
promised  to  be  his  wife,  and  then  write  as  you  would 
for  yourself,  you  will  much  oblige  one  who  has  been 
an  ardent  admirer  of  your  poems. 


Collectors  anfc  tbeir  fl&etbote    119 

The  postscript  to  this  modest  request  was, 
"Send  bill." 

The  Autocrat  was  another  victim  of  cor- 
respondents. "It  was  not  simply  the  swarm- 
ing autograph  hunters,  like  mosquitoes  rising 
from  the  limitless  breeding-grounds  of  summer 
marshes,"  says  Mr.  Morse,  with  that  rhetori- 
cal exuberance  which  second-class  people  are 
so  fond  of  pouring  forth  when  they  deal  with 
the  tribe;  so  that  there  were  other  and  more 
burdensome  petitions  to  try  the  temper  of  the 
good  Doctor.  Mr.  Morse  adds: 

No  album  or  collection  of  autographs  went  without 
his  signature;  he  said  once  that  if  it  should  retain  any 
value  at  all,  at  least  it  would  be  the  cheapest  autograph 
on  the  dealers'  catalogues.  James  Russell  Lowell, 
who  pursued  a  different  plan,  grumbled  at  him  because 
Holmes's  amiable  ways  made  it  so  hard  for  the  others. 

Morse  was  manifestly  thinking  only  of  the 
signature  seeker,  and  the  Doctor  was  mis- 
taken about  the  money  value  of  his  autograph, 
which  is  always  considerable.  When  Holmes 
was  seventy -eight  he  wrote  to  Mr.  De  Wolfe 
Howe: 


120    IRambles  in  Hutograpb 


I  am  what  my  friends  the  autograph  hunters  called 
a  "noted  person,"  sometimes  perhaps  "notorious," 
but  I  am  not  quite  sure  of  this.  They  also  remind 
me  that  I  am  advanced  in  life  and  not  likely  to  be 
good  for  autographs  much  longer,  so  that  it  would 
be  the  civil  thing  in  me  to  hurry  up  my  signature 
before  it  is  too  late. 

This  was  of  course,  a  bit  of  humorous  exag- 
geration; for  so  tender  was  he  of  the  "auto- 
graph hunters"  that  he  not  only  furnished  his 
own  cheerfully,  but  actually  helped  them  to 
obtain  the  autographs  of  others,  as  appears 
from  one  of  the  letters  of  which  I  am  fondest 
— given  in  full  in  one  of  my  works  of  great 
learning  but  of  limited  circulation.  I  am 
tempted  to  quote  it  again,  in  the  hope  that 
now  some  one  may  read  it: 

BEVERLY  FARMS,  MASS.,  August  21,  1879. 
MY  DEAR  LONGFELLOW: — 

I  send  you  a  letter  of  Mr.  Frederick  Locker  with  a 
request  which  I  know  you  will  comply  with.  The 
daughter  he  refers  to,  as  you  may  remember,  married 
Tennyson's  son.  If  you  would  have  the  kindness, 
after  writing  the  lines  marked  for  yourself,  to  send  the 
whole,  letter  and  all,  to  Emerson,  he  to  Whittier,  and 
Whittier  to  me,  I  should  feel  in  sending  back  the 
manuscript  that  I  had  made  Mr.  Locker  happy; 


Collectors  anb  tbeir  flfcetbobs    121 

and  that  I  should  be  glad  to  do  for  he  has  shown  me 
much  kindness,  though  I  have  never  seen  him.  I 
cannot  help  the  fact  that  his  letter  has  a  few  compli- 
mentary words  about  myself — you  can  skip  those, 
if  you  will  read  the  rest. 

Always  faithfully  yours, 
O.  W.  HOLMES. 


Doctor  Holmes  could  not  have  written  the 
Commemoration  Ode  or  the  Biglow  Papers, 
the  latter  now  so  nearly  forgotten ;  but  Lowell 
could  never  have  written  that  letter,  for  the 
warmth  of  it  did  not  lie  in  his  heart. 

Dr.  Holmes' s  readiness  to  assist  others  in 
procuring  autographs  recalls  a  letter  of  another 
American  poet  which  I  am  fortunate  enough 
to  possess.  On  June  27,  1843,  Bryant  wrote 
to  Israel  K.  Tefft,  one  of  the  pioneer  collectors 
in  this  country: 


I  was  diligent  in  looking  up  Professor  Robinson  on 
my  ret  rn  to  New  York  that  I  might  secure  the  auto- 
graph of  Luther  for  you,  but  he  had  already  disposed 
of  it.  It  was  a  paper  which  contained  the  hand- 
writing both  of  Luther  and  Melancthon.  He  said, 
however,  that  he  would  look  up  for  me  the  autographs 
of  several  eminent  modern  German  scholars  which  he 
possessed  and  give  them  to  me  for  you.  I  accepted 


122    IRambles  in  Hutograpfo  Xanfc 

his  offer  of  course,  and  last  evening  I  called  in  hopes 
of  getting  the  autographs,  but  he  was  not  in,  and  Mrs. 
Robinson  told  me  that  he  had  been  too  busy  to  look 
for  them.  I  hope  to  have  the  pleasure  of  forwarding 
them  to  you  hereafter. 


The  only  autograph  of  Luther  I  have  ever 
seen  was,  strangely  enough,  in  the  Vatican. 

Even  a  distinguished  soldier  does  not  dis- 
dain to  be  helpful,  as  is  shown  by  a  brief  note 
from  Baron  Napier  of  Magdala.  I  am  curious 
to  know  what  particular  autograph  he  had 
in  mind,  but  do  not  see  how  it  may  ever  be 
revealed  to  me. 


8  SEVILLE  STREET. 

LOWNDES  SQUARE  S.W. 

December  I7th. 

DEAR  SIR — 

I  send  you  for  your  collection  an  autograph  which 
is  not  too  plentiful  even  with  us. 

Yours  very  faithfully, 
NAPIER  OF  MAGDALA 


But  kindness  is  sometimes  grossly  abused. 
I  once  saw  a  letter  of  Hawthorne  in  which  he 
said  some  indignant  things  about  applications 
to  him  for  letters  written  to  him  by  men  of 


Collectors  anb  tbeir  HDetbobs    123 

importance,  and  Mrs.  James  T.  Fields  writes 
with  ill-concealed  irritation: 

MY  DEAR  SIR: 

I  am  sorry  to  say  that  I  cannot  give  away  any 
letters.  Believe  me 

Very  truly, 

A.  FIELDS 
148  CHARLES  STREET. 
BOSTON,  April  I4th. 

Such  gifts  must  not  be  solicited ;  they  must 
be  voluntary  benefactions.  I  do  not  know 
of  a  more  generous  one  than  that  which  is 
recorded  of  Bryan  Waller  Procter  to  an 
American  friend.  Procter  was  talking  with 
him  about  Charles  Lamb,  while  looking  over 
some  Lamb  letters.  Selecting  one,  Procter 
said,  "I  will  give  you  this  one.  Cram  it  in 
your  pocket,  for  I  hear  my  wife  coming  down- 
stairs, and  perhaps  she  won't  let  you  carry  it 
off." 

Robert  Southey,  one  of  the  most  lovable  of 
all  men  of  letters,  an  indefatigable  worker, 
most  economical  of  his  time,  always  found 
opportunity  to  attend  to  his  correspondence, 
as  the  busiest  men  usually  do.  It  is  generally 


124    IRambles  in  Hutoarapb  OLanfc 

the  idle  who  have  "no  time  to  write."  He 
advocated  playfully  the  forming  of  a  "  Society 
for  the  Suppression  of  Albums,"  a  laudable 
enterprise;  but  when  a  certain  Mr.  Samuel 
Simpson  of  Liverpool  begged  from  him  a  few 
lines  in  his  handwriting  "to  fill  a  vacancy  in 
his  collection  of  autographs,  without  which 
his  series  must  remain  for  ever  most  incom- 
plete," he  answered  merrily  in  verse  which 
must  have  won  the  heart  of  Simpson: 

Inasmuch  as  you,  Sam,  a  descendant  of  Sim, 
For  collecting  handwritings  have  taken  a  whim, 
And  to  me,  Robert  Southey,  petition  have  made, 
In  a  civil  and  nicely-penned  letter — post-paid — 
That  I  to  your  album  so  gracious  would  be 
As  to  fill  up  a  page  there  appointed  for  me, 
Five  couplets  I  send  you,  by  aid  of  the  Nine — 
They  will  cost  you  in  postage  a  penny  a  line : 
At  Keswick,  October  the  sixth,  they  were  done, 
One  thousand  eight  hundred  and  twenty  and  one. 

It  is  instructive  to  observe  the  contrast 
between  the  men  of  might  and  the  lesser 
figures  in  the  world  of  literature:  the  loudest 
grumbling,  the  most  plaintive  wails,  proceed 
from  the  lower  ranks  when  it  is  a  question  of 
autographs.  They  appear  to  fancy  that  it  is 


Collectors  anb  tbelr  flDetbobs    125 

a  smart  thing  to  sneer  at  a  collector.  I  found 
an  example  lately  in  a  book  called  Many 
Celebrities  and  a  Few  Others  by  Mr.  William 
H.  Rideing,  a  worthy  purveyor  of  common- 
places for  magazines,  in  which  he  favours  us 
with  a  tale  told  to  him  by  Mr.  John  Watson 
concerning  a  silly  young  man  who  stared  at 
Watson  on  a  steamer.  He  makes  Watson 
say  that  the  youth  was  either  a  reader  of  the 
Ian  Maclaren  books  "or  an  autograph  hunter. 
He  can  wait.  They  are  always  with  us,  like 
the  poor."  I  refuse  to  believe  that  Watson 
ever  said  it:  he  would  not  have  repeated  that 
weak,  wretched,  worn-out  jest  about  "the 
poor."  That  arrow  never  came  out  of  Ian 
Maclaren's  quiver;  it  is  manifestly  the  product 
of  Mr.  Rideing' s  genius.  I  am  emboldened 
in  my  scepticism  by  a  little  evidence  from 
another  chapter  of  the  book,  devoted  to  an 
exposition  of  the  author's  intimacy  with 
Gladstone.  Referring  to  a  discussion  of  Chris- 
tianity between  Gladstone  and  Robert  Inger- 
soll,  in  the  North  American  Review,  Mr. 
Rideing  makes  Gladstone  say  to  him  in  an 
alleged  familiar  conversation:  "I  wish  I  had 


126    IRamblee  in  Hutograpb  Xanfc 

not  written  that  article  on  Mr.  Ingersoll.  I 
feel  as  if  I  had  had  a  tussle  with  a  chimney- 
sweep." As  a  matter  of  fact,  Mr.  Gladstone 
once  wrote  a  letter  to  Mr.  Rideing,  who  had 
some  editorial  connection  with  the  North 
American  Review,  dated  in  London,  July  23, 
1888,  in  which  he  said: 

In  considering  your  letter  I  have  thought  that  a 
note  such  as  the  inclosed  would  answer  your  purpose 
and  would  be  my  best  mode  of  action.  I  could  not 
indeed  well  go  beyond  it,  for  I  feel  that  there  is  some- 
thing of  the  same  objection  to  a  literary  contact  with 
Col.  Ingersoll  as  to  a  scuffle  with  a  chimney  sweep. 

I  doubt  whether  Mr.  Gladstone  was  guilty 
of  such  a  parrot-like  repetition  of  the  same 
idea;  of  course,  it  may  be  like  the  "huma" 
incident  related  by  the  Autocrat;  but  I  think 
Mr.  Rideing  was  recalling  his  letter  and  not  a 
conversation.  I  have  the  letter,  for  Mr. 
Rideing  sold  his  letters  from  time  to  time. 

Mr.  Gladstone  wrote  as  he  did  of  Ingersoll 
without  accurate  knowledge;  he  was  deceived 
by  some  slave  of  prejudice.  I  knew  Colonel 
Ingersoll ;  and  while  I  have  no  sympathy  with 
the  views  which  he  proclaimed  in  regard  to 


religion  and  to  Christianity,  I  always  found 
him  a  charming  man,  of  attractive  personal 
qualities,  and  I  had  many  opportunities  of 
judging.  I  doubt  if  any  one  could  have  been 
long  in  his  society  without  having  an  affection 
for  him.  He  was  a  poet  by  nature;  he  was  a 
real  orator;  he  had  an  abundant  sense  of 
humour.  In  all  these  respects  he  was  Glad- 
stone's superior.  I  have  always  believed  that, 
although  he  was  execrated  by  the  "unco*  guid" 
as  a  blatant  infidel,  he  thought  more  deeply 
and  more  constantly  on  religious  topics  than 
the  vast  majority  of  his  critics. 

There  lives  more  faith  in  honest  doubt, 
Believe  me,  than  in  half  the  creeds." 

Some  reference  has  been  made  to  Laurence 
Hutton  and  the  peculiar  views  he  entertained 
or  professed  to  entertain  regarding  autographs. 
After  his  lamented  death  eight  years  ago,  a 
book  was  published,  dictated  by  him  in  the 
latter  part  of  his  life,  entitled  Talks  in  a 
Library  with  Laurence  Hutton,  one  chapter  of 
which  is  devoted  to  Autographs.  Hutton  was 
a  genial  man,  with  many  amiable  qualities, 


128    IRambles  in  Hutograpb  ILanfc 

but  even  those  who  knew  him  best  must  ad- 
mit that  he  was  profoundly  self-centred;  his 
egotism  however  was  more  amusing  than 
offensive.  It  permeated  all  that  he  wrote; 
events  were  important  if  they  happened  to 
him,  and  men  were  of  importance  if  he  knew 
them.  The  Hutton  motif  is  always  dominant ; 
his  family,  his  friends,  his  dogs,  his  belongings 
were  always  in  the  foreground.  He  begins 
his  autographic  disquisitions  with  dicta  which 
I  have  often  heard  him  deliver  orally: 

"Autographisers,"  as  Dibdin  once,  and  a  little 
disrespectfully,  spoke  of  them,  may  be  divided  into 
four  distinct  classes — the  Buyers,  the  Beggars,  the 
Stealers,  and  the  Receivers.  The  first  study  the 
catalogues;  they  order  by  mail  or  by  wire;  sometimes 
they  exchange,  and  they  always  pay  full  prices.  They 
find  profit  and,  no  doubt,  a  certain  amount  of  pleasure 
in  their  hunting  and  angling  for  letters  and  signatures. 
They  bag  their  game,  and  they  catch  their  fish,  ready 
cooked.  It  is  often  the  rarest  of  fish  and  game.  But 
it  is  not  sport. 

This  is  pretty  thin.  Inasmuch  as  he,  later 
on,  excoriates  Beggars  and  Stealers,  it  follows 
that  it  is  only  the  "Receivers,"  as  he  calls 
them,  who  enjoy  real  sport.  I  wonder  what 


Laurence  Hutton 
From  a  painting  from  life  by  Dora  Wheeler  Keith 


Collectors  anfc  tbeir  fl&etbofcs    129 

he  meant  by  "sport";  an  analysis  of  his  sage 
expreSvsions  indicates  that  it  depends  merely 
on  whether  the  game  was  "cooked"  or  raw. 
But  what  "sport"  do  the  "Receivers"  enjoy? 
If  a  man  whom  you  know  well  sends  you  an 
agreeable  letter,  voluntarily  and  without  so- 
licitation, where  is  the  "sport?"  To  pursue 
the  hunting  analogy,  there  is  about  as  much 
sport  in  it  as  there  would  be  if  a  "lusty  trout " 
should  leap  from  the  pool  and  deposit  himself 
in  your  basket,  or  if  a  "lordly  lion"  should 
stalk  into  your  camp,  recline  peacefully  at 
your  feet,  and  signify  that  he  was  your 
personal  property. 

The  Huttonian  point  of  view  is  revealed 
in  his  next  paragraph: 


The  real  collector  would  not  exchange  a  little  note 
in  his  possession,  written  on  the  night  of  his  election 
to  the  Century  Club,  containing  the  simple  words, 
"  Dear  Mother  Blank,  your  Boy  is  a  Centurion,"  and 
signed  "Edwin"  (Booth),  for  the  manuscript  of 
Washington's  Farewell  Address;  nor  would  he  give 
a  familiar  letter  of  Bunner's  full  of  affectionate  per- 
sonalities and  closing  "with  love,  as  always,  to  the 
Wife,"  for  the  sealed  and  signed  Death  Warrant  of 
Lady  Jane  Grey. 


130    IRamblee  in  Butograpb 


You  might  as  well  say  that  "  a  real  collector" 
of  portraits  would  not  exchange  a  portrait 
of  his  mother  for  one  of  a  great  statesman  by 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds.  It  is  all  the  Hutton 
way  of  telling  us  that  Booth  wrote  a  letter 
about  him  and  that  Bunner  wrote  a  letter  to 
him.  He  seems  to  have  no  idea  at  all  of  the 
true  emotions  of  a  collector.  He  had  no 
adequate  sense  of  proportion,  but  a  good  deal 
of  harmless  personal  vanity.  I  do  not  know 
what  connection  there  can  be  between  Lady 
Jane  Grey's  Death  Warrant  and  a  letter  from 
Mr.  Bunner,  but  I  should  think  that  any 
rational  person  would  prefer  owning  the  Death 
Warrant  to  the  proprietorship  of  a  Bunner 
letter  even  if  it  was  written  to  Laurence 
Hutton. 

But  really,  he  did  not  believe  all  this;  he 
may  have  thought  that  he  did,  but  in  his 
heart  he  knew  that  it  was  only  twaddle. 

For  in  what  I  have  written  here  of  Hutton, 
I  do  not  intend  by  any  means  to  utter  words 
of  disparagement;  far  from  it.  All  men  have 
their  little  vanities,  but  some  hide  them  better 
than  others.  He  enjoyed  keenly  the  delights 


V 


M 


—  » 


t 

0  v^^     W      yv* 


Co 


Last  page  of  A.  L.  S.  (5  pages)  of  Laurence  Hutton,  April  18,  1903 


Collectors  anfc  tbelr  flDetbobs    131 

of  good  books,  good  art,  good  talk,  and  all 
that  gratifies  a  cultured  taste;  but  he  would 
prize  a  snap-shot  photograph  of  himself  taken 
by  some  amateur  crony  much  more  than  a 
portrait  by  Sargent,  if  he  did  not  know  Sar- 
gent very  well.  He  had  pride  in  his  acquaint- 
ance with  men  of  distinction;  so  much  pride 
that  he  often  gave  the  impression  of  having  a 
sort  of  ownership  of  them.  There  was  some- 
thing very  winning  in  his  appreciation  of 
their  kind  words  and  friendly  acts.  This 
spirit  of  affectionate  regard  was  so  strong 
within  him  that  he  could  not  keep  it  from 
dominating  his  thoughts;  and  hence  it  was 
that  he  failed  to  comprehend  the  true  passion 
of  the  collector  and  suffered  the  personal 
element  to  overshadow  it  completely.  Most 
men  have  a  reluctance  about  displaying,  in  a 
collection  of  autographs,  an  intimate  personal 
letter  addressed  to  themselves ;  it  seems  almost 
too  sacred  to  be  treated  in  such  a  quasi-public 
way.  But  there  are  so  many  varying  opinions 
on  such  subjects  that  no  hard  and  fast  rule 
may  be  formulated. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

MY  OWN  COLLECTION 

The  Collection — Some  Poets'  Autographs — Thomas  Gray's 
Manuscript — Charles  Lloyd — His  Letter  to  Southey — His 
Marriage — A  Byron  Manuscript — Letter  of  Byron's  Mother 
— Beattie — Edward  Lear — Locker-Lampson — Thomas  Hood 
— Robert  Southey — Matthew  Prior — Christina  Rossetti — 
Tennyson  to  Bayard  Taylor — Shelley — Bryan  Waller 
Procter —  Samuel  Rogers. 

As  I  confidently  expected  from  the  begin- 
ning, I  come  to  my  own  collection  at  last.  I 
did  my  best  to  avoid  it  and  hovered  about  it  a 
little,  but  could  not  escape  from  it.  The 
collector  cannot  refrain  from  gossiping  about 
it  any  more  than  a  modern  statesman  can 
abstain  from  talking  about  the  infallible 
judgment  of  the  people  or  than  a  philanthropic 
millionaire  can  cease  from  talking  about 
himself.  We  all  have  our  objects  of  idolatry, 
but  we  may  indulge  in  the  hope  that  we  may 
discover  when  we  are  growing  tiresome, 

132 


M".  G   K  A 


Thomas  Gray 
From  the  engraving  by  T.  Basire 


<§>vxm  Collection  133 


although  it  is  easy  to  be  deceived  on  such  a 
subject  and  I  doubt  whether  a  bore  ever 
really  finds  out  that  he  is  a  bore.  Without 
pouring  out  the  contents  of  many  portfolios, 
we  may  look  at  a  few,  and  they  are  neither 
the  rarest  nor  the  most  important  ;  and  after 
all,  if  any  one  does  not  care  to  follow  me  in  my 
rambles,  the  way  of  escape  is  open  to  him. 

In  the  "Poets'  Corner"  reposes  a  manu- 
script of  Thomas  Gray,  containing  two  short 
poems;  and  Horace  Walpole  has  written  at 
the  top,  "The  following  two  poems  were 
given  to  Mr.  Jacob  by  (Miss  Speed)  Comtesse 
de  Virri,  who  told  him  they  [were]  written 
by  Mr.  Gray."  Miss  Harriet  Speed  is  re- 
membered by  students  of  Gray  as  the  woman 
who  furnished  "the  sole  suggestion  of  romance 
in  Gray's  life."1  The  acquaintance  began  in 
this  wise:  Walpole  showed  to  Lady  Cobham, 
who  lived  at  Stoke  Manor  House,  the  manu- 
script of  the  Elegy  and  she  persuaded  her 

'"At  one  time,"  says  Mr.  Gosse,  "Gray  seems  to  have  been 
really  frightened  lest  they  should  marry  him  suddenly,  against 
his  will,"  to  Miss  Speed,  "and  perhaps  he  almost  wished  they 
would." 


134    IRambles  itt  Hutograpb  llanfc 

niece,  Miss  Speed,  and  a  Mrs.  Schaub  to  visit 
Gray  at  his  mother's  home  near  by.  As  he 
was  absent  at  the  moment  of  their  call  they 
left  a  note  for  him  which  led  to  the  somewhat 
mediocre  poem  called  The  Long  Story.  When 
Lady  Cobham  died  in  1760  she  left  £20 
to  Gray  for  a  mourning  ring  and  £30,000 
to  Miss  Speed.  According  to  Sir  Leslie 
Stephen,  "some  vague  rumours,  which  how- 
ever Gray  mentions  with  indifference,  pointed 
to  a  match  between  the  poet  and  the  heir- 
ess"; but  in  January,  1761,  when  nearly 
forty,  "the  heiress"  married  a  man  ten  years 
her  junior,  the  Baron  de  la  PeyrieYe,  a  son 
of  the  Sardinian  minister,  and  went  to  the 
family  estate  of  Viry,  on  Lake  Geneva,  ulti- 
mately attaining  the  title  of  Comtesse  de  Viry. 
She  died  in  1783,  twelve  years  after  Gray's 
death,  and  was  said  to  have  been  "eminent 
for  her  wit  and  accomplishments." 

These  poems,  which  are  in  Gray's  unmistak- 
able handwriting,  were  not  included  in  any 
collection  published  in  his  lifetime,  nor  in  the 
Wakefield  edition  of  1786;  but  they  appear  in 
the  edition  of  John  Mitford.  The  Pickering 


<§>wn  Collection  135 


reprint  of  Mitford  asserts  that  the  originals 
were  given  by  the  Countess  to  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Leman  of  Suffolk  while  he  was  on  a  visit  at 
her  castle  in  Savoy,  and  Mr.  Gosse  follows 
this  statement,  but  I  think  that  Walpole's 
inscription  is  a  better  authority.  Perhaps 
there  were  duplicate  originals. 

The  first  of  the  poems  was  written  at  Miss 
Speed's  request,  to  an  old  air  of  Geminiani, 
the  thought  taken  from  the  French.  The 
version  in  the  Mitford  edition  is  printed 
from  the  copy  which  appeared  in  Walpole's 
Letters  to  the  Countess  of  Ailesbury.  A 
different  version  is  given  in  Park's  edition, 
and  neither  rendering  corresponds  exactly 
with  the  manuscript.  The  verses  read  as 
follows: 


i. 


Thyrsis  when  he  left  me,  swore 
E'er  the  spring  he  would  return. 
Ah !  what  means  yon  opening  flower 
And  the  bird  that  decks  the  thorn? 
Twas  the  lark  that  upward  sprung, 
'Twas  the  nightingale  that  sung. 


136    IRambles  in  Hutograpb  Tlanb 

2. 

Idle  notes,  untimely  green! 
Why  such  unavailing  haste? 
Gentle  gales  and  skies  serene 
Prove  not  always  winter  past. 
Cease  my  doubts,  my  fears  to  move, 
Spare  the  honour  of  my  Love. 

The  Pickering  copy  varies  from  the  original 
in  six  places:  we  have  "when  we  parted"  in 
the  first  line;  "ere"  for  "e'er" — a  correction; 
"violet  flower"  instead  of  "opening  flower"; 
"this  unavailing  haste";  "western"  not 
"gentle"  gales;  "speak"  in  place  of  "prove." 
The  Park  copy  is  more  accurate,  having  only 
three  variations:  "in"  for  "e'er,"  "sky  se- 
rene," and  the  last  two  lines  of  the  first  verse 
are  transposed.  These  are  trifling  things,  but 
they  lead  us  to  think  that  editors  are  not 
always  to  be  trusted.  Mitford  (or  was  it 
Walpole?)  did  not  improve  the  poem. 

The  other  poem  is  given  by  Mitford  exactly 
as  it  was  written.  In  the  edition  printed  by 
T.  Bensley  in  1800  it  is  headed:  "The  follow- 
ing lines,  which  have  never  yet  appeared  in 
any  collection  of  Gray's  poems,  deserve  to  be 


;  r 

A- 


/C-     fl*     X/~,y     -/- 

j"  ,r^  ,>  2,.  ^ ,  i/-  ^«*^4  'x^- 


/e 


Manuscript  poems  by  Thomas  Gray,  with  annotation  by  Horace  Walpole 


©von  Collection  137 


considered  as  a  literary  curiosity,  since  they 
are  the  only  amatory  verses  written  by  our 
Pindaric  bard."  This  gives  colour  to  the 
"vague  rumours"  of  the  tender  feeling  of  the 
cold  and  bashful  poet  towards  the  future 
Countess  of  Viry. 

With  beauty  with  pleasure  surrounded  to  languish, 
To  weep  without  knowing  the  cause  of  my  anguish  ; 
To  start  from  short  slumbers,  and  wish  for  the  morning, 
To  close  my  dull  eyes  when  I  see  it  returning; 
Sighs  sudden  and  frequent,  looks  ever  dejected; 
Words  that  steal  from  my  tongue,  by  no  meaning 

connected, 

Ah!  say,  fellow  swains  how  these  symptoms  befell  me? 
They  smile  but  reply  not  —  sure  Delia  will  tell  me. 

The  1800  edition  says  "Delia  can  tell  me." 
If  this  was  the  best  Gray  could  do  in  the 
amatory  line,  he  was  wise  to  make  no  more 
attempts,  and  we  cannot  wonder  that  Miss 
Speed  hastened  to  the  arms  of  her  Baron  from 
Savoy.1  The  "Pindaric  bard"  was  mani- 
festly more  at  home  in  a  churchyard  than 
in  the  courts  of  Love;  "sure"  Delia  could  not 
have  told  him.  Justice  to  Gray  requires  us 

'As  Whitwell  Elmo  says  of  it,  "It  might  have  been  written 
by  an  anchorite." 


138    "Rambles  in  Hutosrapb  Olanb 

to  emphasise  the  fact  that  neither  of  these 
rather  feeble  effusions  was  sent  out  into  the 
world  by  his  procurement  or  with  his  ap- 
proval.1 

Charles  Lloyd  is  remembered  chiefly  because 
he  was  the  friend  of  Lamb,  Coleridge,  Words- 
worth, and  Southey,  and  his  early  poems  ap- 
peared, with  Lamb's,  as  a  sort  of  postscript 
to  the  little  book,  dear  to  all  Lamb-lovers, 
entitled  Poems  by  S.  T.  Coleridge,  Second 
Edition.  He  was  indeed  a  minor  poet  of  the 
so-called  Lake  School;  but  he  had  many  fine 
qualities  and  De  Quincey  said  of  him  that  "he 
was  a  man  never  to  be  forgotten."  Charles 
Lamb  and  the  Lloyds,  by  E.  V.  Lucas,  is  an 
entertaining  book,  like  all  those  which  come 
from  the  pen  of  that  accomplished  writer. 
My  autograph  letter  of  Lloyd's  throws  light 
upon  a  little  old-fashioned  English  romance. 
In  1799  Lloyd  married  Sophia,  daughter  of 
Samuel  Pemberton  of  Birmingham.  It  was 
a  runaway  match.  Dr.  Garnett  says  in  the 

1  As  an  instance  of  the  increase  in  prices,  it  may  be  recalled 
that  the  manuscript  of  the  Elegy  was  sold  in  1847  for  £100! 
At  the  same  sale  The  Long  Story  brought  £45  and  the  Odes  £10. 


Charles  Lamb 
From  an  engraving  of  the  painting  by  Henry  Meyer 


/yiTM4#    /^A 

V        X  f 


*t 


A.  L.  S.  of  Charles  Lamb  to  Robert  Southey,  November  7,  1804 


<§>wn  Collection  139 


Dictionary  of  National  Biography  that  "if 
De  Quincey  can  be  trusted,  he  eloped  with 
her  'by  proxy,'  employing  no  less  distin- 
guished a  person  than  Southey  to  carry  her 
off."  I  do  not  believe  it.  De  Quincey,  sad 
to  say,  is  seldom  to  be  trusted;  he  had  such  a 
store  of  reminiscences  of  things  which  never 
happened.  I  am  glad  that  Mr.  Lucas  does 
not  believe  it  either.  He  says  of  the  tale: 
"That,  however,  probably  is  not  so.  One 
cannot  quite  see  Southey  thus  engaged."  I 
think  my  letter  justifies  this  scepticism.  It 
was  written  to  Southey  the  day  of  the 
marriage  : 

Friday  morn. 
DEAREST  SOUTHEY  — 

Sophia  and  I  shall  be  married  this  morn  at  10 
o'clock.  Mr.  P.  returned  and  has  behaved  with  all 
possible  obstinacy.  He  will  not  see  me  and  again 
threatens  to  disinherit  his  daughter.  This  step  is 
therefore  hastened  to  prevent  all  mischances.  We 
shall  set  forward  for  Cumberland  either  on  Sunday  or 
Monday.  I  am  very  happy  and  feel  many  assurances 
of  comfort.  Kindest  love  to  Mrs.  Southey  and  Edith, 
and  also  to  Tom  if  he  be  at  home. 

Dear  Southey,  farewell. 

C.  LLOYD  JR. 


140    "Rambles  in  Hutosrapb  %anfc 

This  is  hardly  the  sort  of  letter  a  man 
would  write  to  one  whom  he  was  expecting  to 
do  his  eloping  for  him.  It  is  pleasant  to 
know  that,  whether  or  not  Mr.  Pemberton 
disinherited  Sophia,  the  marriage  was  a  very 
happy  one,  clouded  only  by  poor  Lloyd's  fits 
of  insanity,  and  even  De  Quincey,  much  given 
to  saying  disagreeable  things  about  people  he 
knew,  testifies  to  his  admiration  and  respect 
for  brave  Mrs.  Lloyd,  who,  he  thought, 
personally  resembled  Mrs.  Jordan,  the  fas- 
cinating. 

Byron's  fame  as  a  poet  has  been  subjected 
to  vicissitudes,  and  while  one  generation  ex- 
alts him,  another  decries  him  unduly.  The 
latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  was 
poetically  dull,  despite  Tennyson,  Browning, 
and  Swinburne,  and  it  treated  Byron  quite 
contemptuously,  but  he  is  coming  into  his  own 
again;  and  certainly  his  autographs  have 
always  been  much  in  demand.  One  of  mine 
is  a  manuscript  containing  six  stanzas  of 
"Oscar  of  Alva,"  a  poem  included  in  Hours  of 
Idleness.  They  are  written  on  both  sides  of 
a  small  quarto  sheet,  and  there  are  many 


7  « 


First  page  of  A.  L.  S.  of  Charles  Lloyd  to  Robert  Southey,  undated 


's&ts^T^S'^t^P  ^ 


Last  page  of  A.  L.  S.  of  Charles  Lloyd  to  Robert  Southey,  undated 


George     Gordon,    Lord    Byron 
From  a  mezzotint 


<§>wn  Collection  141 


erastires  and  corrections,  whole  lines  being 
roughly  scored  through  and  rewritten.  It  is 
a  "shocking  bad  hand"  but  by  no  means 
illegible.  The  verses,  numbered  from  29  to 
34  inclusive,  appear  in  print  as  follows: 

29. 

"Oh,  search,  ye  chiefs!  oh,  search  around! 

Allan,  with  these,  through  Alva  fly; 
Till  Oscar,  till  my  son  is  found, 

Haste,  haste,  nor  dare  attempt  reply." 

30. 

All  is  confusion  —  through  the  vale, 
The  name  of  Oscar  hoarsely  rings, 

It  rises  on  the  murm'ring  gale, 

Till  night  expands  her  dusky  wings. 


It  breaks  the  stillness  of  the  night, 

But  echoes  through  her  shades  in  vain; 

It  sounds  through  morning's  misty  light, 
But  Oscar  comes  not  o'er  the  plain. 

32. 

Three  days,  three  sleepless  nights,  the  chief 
For  Oscar  search  'd  each  mountain  cave; 

Then  hope  is  lost  ;  in  boundless  grief, 
His  locks  in  grey-torn  ringlets  wave. 


142    "Rambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanfc 

33- 

"Oscar!  my  son! — thou  God  of  Heav'n, 

Restore  the  prop  of  sinking  age! 
Or,  if  that  hope  no  more  is  given, 

Yield  his  assassin  to  my  rage. 

34- 

"Yes,  on  some  desert  rocky  shore 
My  Oscar's  whiten'd  bones  must  lie; 

Then  grant,  thou  God!  I  ask  no  more, 
With  him  his  frantic  Sire  may  die!" 

This  follows  the  manuscript,  except  in 
punctuation ;  the  punctuation  of  poets  is  most 
uncertain.  In  the  last  line,  Byron  wrote 
"lie"  and  not  "die,"  and  the  correction 
improves  the  rhyme  but  not  the  sense; 
whether  the  change  was  made  by  the  printer 
or  by  the  author  I  have  no  means  of  deciding. 
The  manuscript  is  accompanied  by  a  letter 
from  John  Murray  in  which  he  says:  "It  is  a 
genuine  autograph  and  might  fetch  from  2 
to  3  guineas  at  an  Auction  at  Sotheby's." 
The  year  of  Murray's  letter  is  not  given;  it 
evidently  proceeded  from  John  Murray  the 
younger,  who  died  in  1892.  His  estimate  of 
price  seems  low,  when  we  consider  that  in 


'/£    *f~*<,     yf 


O 


*+**? 


**  •* 


*  , 


.         . 

£'**+*£ 

.+ 

.'     If     f^-t^t    *^^i 


<£_     ft 


>  ^ 


c 

"**// 


Portion  of  original  MS.  of  "Oscar  of  Alva,"  by  George  Gordon,  Lord  Byron 


<§>wn  Collection  143 


1909,  at  a  New  York  sale,  a  manuscript  of  a 
Byron  poem  of  sixteen  lines  —  "I  saw  thee 
weep"  —  brought  two  hundred  dollars.  True 
to  my  record,  I  wholly  forget  what  I  paid  for 
mine. 

Byron's  mother,  that  much  abused  lady, 
was  not  without  pride  in  her  son's  work,  and 
she  wrote  to  Mr.  James  Cawthorn,  bookseller, 
of  No.  24  Cockspur  Street,  London,  a  letter  as 
follows: 

NEWSTEAD  ABBEY  NEAR  NOTTINGHAM. 

5th  Feby.  (1810). 

SIR  :  I  wrote  to  you  the  24th.  or  25th  of  last  month 
and  am  surprised  that  I  have  received  no  answer. 
The  purport  of  my  letter  was  to  know  whether  my 
son  Lord  Byron's  work  "English  Bards  and  Scotch 
Reviewers  "  was  in  the  second  or  third  edition,  and  to 
desire  you  to  inform  me  of  all  the  Reviews,  Magazines 
&c.  &c.  &c.  where  it  was  mentioned,  whether  abused 
or  praised  no  matter,  I  wish  to  peruse  them,  for  what 
months  they  are  mentioned  in.  The  only  two  I  have 
read  is  the  critiques  in  the  Gentlemans  Magazine 
and  the  Anti-  Jacobin  for  April  last.  Send  an  imme- 
diate answer. 

She  was  evidently  in  a  hurry  as  she  drew 
near  the  close,  for  her  style  becomes  confused- 
It  may  be  true  that  when  a  school-fellow  said 


144    IRambles  In  Butograpb  %ant> 


to  Byron,  "Your  mother  is  a  fool,"  he  an- 
swered, "I  know  it";  but  he  was  wrong.  She 
may  have  been  capricious  and  passionate, 
but  she  was  no  fool. 

There  is  a  peculiar  pleasure  in  roving  among 
the  poet-portfolios,  for  although  they  are 
rilled  with  much  that  is  of  no  great  interest 
other  than  the  merely  autographic,  we  dis- 
cover here  and  there  the  little  personal  touches 
which  bring  the  writer  before  us — as  when  we 
read  what  the  grave  Professor  Beattie  wrote 
from  Aberdeen  in  May,  1774,  saying  in  his 
stately  eighteenth-century  fashion: 

Dr.  Johnson  was  here  in  autumn  last,  but  I  could 
not  attend  him,  being  then  detained  in  England  by 
business.  I  am  happy  to  hear  that  the  cold  and 
hunger  and  other  calamities  which  he  must  of  neces- 
sity have  encountered  in  his  tour  have  not  impaired 
his  health,  and  that  he  seriously  intends  to  oblige  the 
world  by  publishing  an  account  of  his  travels.  The 
remarks  of  such  a  genius  on  such  a  country  must 
have  in  them  something  very  original  and  extra- 
ordinary. 

A  tour  in  Scotland  and  to  the  Hebrides 
seems  to  have  been  looked  upon  very  much  as 
an  expedition  to  the  North  Pole  is  now  re- 


Thomas  Hood 


^^  4**3 

J 


. 


First  page  of  A.  L.  S.  (4  pages)  of  Thomas  Hood  to  F.  O.  Ward,  undated 


<S>wn  Collection  145 


garded.  Then  we  find  something  in  another 
vein,  as  when  Edward  Lear  writes  to  his 
friend  Miss  Perry,  d  propos  of  some  proposed 
lodgings:  "I  know  that  they  have,  or  had,  a 
good  French  cook;  only  I  also  know  that  she 
fell  and  broke  her  collar  bone  she  did,  though 
that  may  not  have  interfered  culinarily";  and 
again,  '  '  My  Tennyson  illustrations  don't  pro- 
gress —  Lithography  and  autotype  &c  &c.  all 
seem  to  fail,  —  but  I  never  give  anything  up 
while  there  is  hope,  as  the  tadpole  said  when 
his  tail  fell  off."  Frederick  Locker-Lampson 
writes  to  Miss  Collins,  to  whom  he  had  given 
a  pair  of  earrings:  "I  am  very  glad  you  like 
the  earrings.  How  is  it  that,  your  father 
being  a  poet,  you  never  had  your  ears 
bored?" 

From  a  number  of  Hood's  letters  I  select 
one  written  as  he  was  approaching  the  end  of 
his  sad  life,  for  it  shows  him  with  a  little  jest 
at  the  end  of  his  pen,  struggling  under  the 
burdens  of  ill-health  and  the  newly  founded 
Hood's  Magazine  which  Mr.  F.  O.  Ward,  his 
sub-editor,  was  faithfully  conducting  under 
the  supervision  of  his  dying  chief. 


146    IRambles  in  Hutosrapb  %ant> 

MY  DEAR  WARD  : — 

I  continue  better  and  the  wind  has  changed  and  I 
have  had  my  window  open.  The  sycamore  is  no 
longer  emetical.  What  a  day  for  Ascot! — without 
any  Running  Rain ! 

You  haven't  sent  the  Eraser.  I  will  look  over 
Wolesby's  list  more  carefully  in  the  morning.  Most 
of  them  it  appears  are  very  stale — -e.g.  Life  of  Louis 
Phillippe — a  poor  book.  I  have  had  it  these  9  months. 
Slick  the  attache*  is  old  too.  Hewitt's  German  book 
I  should  like  to  do  myself.  Twiss  Life  of  Eldon 
ought  to  be  a  good  book,  but  it  is  not  ready  I  suspect. 
I  hope  Wolesby  is  not  strong  Tory.  Our  actresses  I 
dare  say  will  be  sent  by  Smith  &  Elder  when  ready. 

I  have  done  three  cuts  on  the  wood  today  and  shall 
send  them  per  boy  tomorrow  to  the  wood  cutter. 
Perhaps  with  some  more. 

It  is  funny  Wolesby  talking  of  "novelties"  with 
such  a  list  of  stale  books.  Please  not  to  write  to 
Broderip — pro  tern. 

If  Cooper's  Ashore  and  Afloat  is  new  it  might  do. 
But  I  do  not  see  why  we  should  turn  Retrospective  Re- 
viewers and  go  back  to  old  wares.  My  notion  is  reviews 
of  novelties,  with  good  extracts — for  our  readers  before 
they  can  generally  get  the  books  thro  circulating  li- 
braries. I  will  send  George  to-morrow  for  the  Fraser. 

Dr.  Toulmin's  verses  are  weak  &  come  to  "a  bad 
end."  They  certainly  will  not  do.  The  Mag.  has  a 
poetical  reputation  we  must  not  undermine.  A  little 
and  good.  I  am  certain  that  readers  are  more  dis- 
gusted by  indifferent  poetry  than  by  bad  prose. 

Yours  affectionately, 

F.  O.  WARD  ESQ.  T.  HOOD 


V  ' 

••*      t.    /-.  sr.  /, 


Robert  Southey 
From  an  engraving  by  E.  Finden  after  the  painting  by  T.  Phillips,  R.  A. 


8 


ifr     -/, 

** 


f*. 


Ik 


Page  of  original  MS.  of  "  The  Curse  of  Kehama,"  by  Robert  Southey 


©von  Collection  147 


Southey  may  not  have  been  a  great  poet, 
but  he  was  in  every  good  sense  "a  literary 
man,"  and  he  was  so  fond  of  his  books!  So 
neat  and  legible  was  his  chirography  that  it  is 
a  delight  to  me  to  look  over  the  manuscript 
of  The  Curse  of  Kehama,  whose  introductory 
lines, 

Midnight,  and  yet  no  eye 

Thro'  all  the  Imperial  City  clos'd  in  sleep, 

were  so  amusingly  parodied  in  the  lines  of 
The  Rejected  Addresses  beginning, 

Midnight,  and  not  a  nose 

From  Tower  Hill  to  Piccadilly  snored. 

It  was  said  of  his  handwriting  that  "it  is  not 
modern  English  writing  but  a  modernisation 
of  old  English  writing."  He  is  dear  to  us  less 
for  the  epics  of  which  he  was  so  proud,  than 
for  the  immortal  Tale  of  the  Three  Bears  and 
the  story,  so  familiar  in  our  childhood,  which, 
when  old  Kaspar's  work  was  done,  the  vener- 
able gentleman  related  to  little  Peterkin  and 
Wilhelmine,  about  the  "famous  victory." 
There  is  truth  even  at  this  day  in  this  letter 


148    Gambles  in  Hutograpb  lanb 

which  he  wrote  to  Mr.  William  Webb,  dated  at 
Keswick  on  November  8,  1824: 

The  usual  course  thro  which  an  author's  manuscript 
passes  is  this  [says  Southey] :  if  it  be  of  a  nature  that 
the  bookseller  thinks  worth  a  moment's  consideration, 
he  requests  some  other  author  of  whose  judgment  he 
happens  to  think  well  to  look  at  it  (sometimes  the 
most  incompetent  person  in  the  world)  and  acts  upon 
his  opinion.  The  recommendation  of  one  who  is  a 
friend  of  the  writer  goes  for  nothing.  If  you  have 
any  friend  in  London  to  whom  you  can  entrust  this 
sort  of  commission,  let  him  take  the  manuscript  to 
Murray,  or  any  other  respectable  publisher,  &  ask  as 
speedy  an  answer  as  may  be  convenient.  If  you  have 
not,  &  the  manuscript  is  in  your  own  writing,  a  more 
summary  way  may  be  to  have  the  first  sheet  printed 
in  Dublin — for  a  sheet  will  be  as  sufficient  a  sample 
as  a  volume.  The  idlest  person  to  whom  it  may  be 
referred  will  glance  over  it, — whereas  a  manuscript 
if  not  very  legibly  written  is  always  regarded  with 
some  degree  of  dismay.  You  can  then  enclose  your 
sample  in  a  frank  to  the  publisher-elect,  who  may  then 
very  likely  form  his  own  opinion — &  is  in  good  manners 
bound  to  deliver  it  without  delay.  The  time  and 
trouble  which  this  method  will  save,  I  should  think 
worth  the  cost.  If  the  bookseller  declines  the  under- 
taking, you  can  try  others.  ...  I  like  a  book  in 
which  the  writer  shows  himself  to  be  what  he  is,  &  is 
not  ashamed  of  a  little  honest  egotism.  Do  not  expect 
too  much  from  it.  Public  opinion  is  as  little  to  be 
relied  on  in  such  things  as  the  wind  and  weather  in 


MATTHEW  PRIOR. 


Matthew  Prior 


0, 


'•'X 


S   V 

s&-t?-^nz-^^ 


First  page  of  A.  L.  S.  (3  pages)  of  Matthew  Prior,  June  17,  1708 


<S>wn  Collection  149 


this  uncertain  climate.  And  no  author  who  knows 
what  the  public  is,  and  by  what  mere  caprice  it  is 
determined  to  the  right  or  left,  will  either  be  elated 
by  success  or  dispirited  by  failure.  .  .  .  My  little 
boy  is  in  the  honey-moon  of  puerile  happiness,  having 
just  put  on  that  fashion  of  apparel  which  he  must 
wear  thro  life. 

Straying  back  to  the  days  of  Queen  Anne, 
we  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  time  in  a  letter  of 
Matthew  Prior,  whose  poetic  effusions  were, 
as  he  himself  declared,  "the  product  of  his 
leisure  hours,"  and  who  was  commonly  busy 
with  politics  and  diplomacy;  of  whom,  at  his 
death,  an  admirer  wrote  these  touching  lines: 

Horace  and  He  were  call'd  in  haste 
From  this  vile  Earth  to  Heaven; 

The  cruel  year  not  fully  pass'd 
^Etatis,  fifty  seven. 

This  letter  came  from  the  collection  of  Daw- 
son  Turner,  and  was  addressed  to  Sir  Thomas 
Hanmer.  Prior's  letter  is  easier  to  read  than 
is  most  of  his  poetry. 

DEAR  SIR:  'Twas  ridiculous  that  since  your 
leaving  London  I  should  have  contented  myself  wth 
asking  Mr.  Coleman  how  you  do  without  writing  to 
you;  but  to  let  a  letter  from  you  go  a  week  unan- 


IRambles  In  Hutograpb  Xanfc 


swered  is  downright  impudence;  the  Devil  take  me  if 
I  am  not  ashamed  of  it.  Confiteor,  est  mea  culpa, 
mea  maxima  culpa.  Rabelais  gives  you  a  whole 
chapter  of  the  same  stile,  when  Panurge  in  the  tempest 
at  once  damns  himself  and  prays:  and  now  what  to 
write  is  the  question.  My  Ld  Griffen  is  reprieved  for 
a  fortnight  ;  her  Maj  is  better,  and  designs  for  Winsor 
next  week.  The  Scotch  Prisoners  are  most  of  them 
bayled  and  gon  home  again  —  and  all  public  matters 
are  much  in  that  indifferent  situation  in  wch  you  left 
them.  Lady  Sandwich  and  Lady  Fitzharding  are 
gone  out  of  town.  Lord  and  Lady  Jersey  go  next 
week.  Your  tutor  Aldrich  leaves  us  to-morrow. 
After  these  matters  are  adjusted,  I  think  nobody  will 
be  left  here,  but  myself  and  my  fellow  builder  the 
Duke  of  Bucks:  there  is  nothing  printed  worth  my 
sending  you  except  it  be  an  ace'  of  our  American  Colo- 
nies by  Oldmixon,  wch  if  you  please  to  have,  you  will 
lay  your  commands  upon  me.  I  hope  you  are  all 
well,  from  my  Lady  Dutchesse  to  M's  Susan.  I  must 
charge  you  with  my  particular  respects  to  Mrs  Ramsey 
and  she  ought  to  take  this  as  an  extraordinary  mark 
of  my  favour  at  this  time,  for  I  am  really  so  splenitic, 
that  I  think  I  should  hardly  have  done  more  for  my 
own  nutt  brown  Betty.  Vive  &  vale. 

Yours  ever, 

MAT:  PRIOR 
WEST'  June  I7th,  1708. 

Returning  from  Anne  to  Victoria,  here  is  a 
letter  of  Christina  Rossetti  to  Bayard  Taylor, 
in  that  beautiful,  almost  copper-plate  hand- 


Alfred,  Lord  Tennyson 


, 
XT 

s/ 


•* 

///// 


h 


First  page  of  A.  L.  S.  (3  pages)  of  Alfred,  Lord  Tennyson,  to  Bayard  Taylor,  March 

19,  1866 


©\xm  Collection  151 


writing  of  hers,  which  has  nevertheless  an 
individuality  which  copper-plate  script  does 
not  possess  ;  a  handwriting  resembling  in  some 
respects  that  of  Mr.  William  Allen  Butler. 
I  am  not  certain  what  book  of  Taylor's  elicited 
the  letter,  but  I  think  it  must  have  been  The 
Picture  of  St.  John,  which  was  published  in 
October,  1866. 

166  ALBANY  ST.  LONDON  — 

N.  W.  ENGLAND  — 

22d,  1867— 

DEAR  SIR  — 

I  hope  I  have  not  seemed  dilatory  in  acknowledging 
the  gift  of  your  book,  which  only  reached  my  hands 
yesterday  evening,  although  the  autograph  which 
enriches  it  bears  the  date  of  last  year.  Pray  now 
accept  my  best  thanks.  As  yet  I  have  read  little 
more  than  the  introduction;  this  has  interested  me, 
the  more  so  as  your  experiment  in  versification  appears 
to  me  a  very  happy  one:  may  I  venture  to  add  my 
satisfaction  at  your  having  decided  against  the 
occasional  Alexandrine. 

Pray  allow  me  to  remain 

Very  truly  yours, 

CHRISTINA  G.  ROSSETTI 

Tennyson's  letter  to  Bayard  Taylor  must 
refer  to  some  other  book  than  the  one  men- 
tioned by  Miss  Rossetti,  as  it  was  sent  before 


152    "Rambles  in  autograph  Olanb 

The  Picture  of  St.  John  was  published.  The 
Laureate  manifestly  felt  hospitably  disposed 
towards  at  least  one  American.  • 

UPPER  GORE  LODGE. 
KENNINGTON  GORE. 
March  19,  1866. 

MY  DEAR  SIR: 

Your  new  book  has  just  arrived  in  a  hamper  of 
provisions  sent  on  here  from  Farringford,  for  we  have 
been  staying  here  for  some  weeks  in  a  house  formerly, 
I  believe,  belonging  to  Count  D'Orsay  and  now  to 
Lady  Franklin,  and  we  get  for  the  most  part  supplied 
from  the  farm  at  home.  Many  thanks  for  your  book 
which  will  I  have  no  doubt  increase  your  reputation, 
and  for  your  kindly  letter.  I  am  sorry  that  I  was 
not  at  home  to  welcome  your  friend  Mr.  Norwood. 
If  you  intend  to  honour  me  with  another  visit  perhaps 
it  will  be  as  well  to  send  me  notice  a  week  or  so  before 
you  come,  that  I  may  not  miss  you.  We  are  generally 
away  on  the  Continent  during  July  and  September. 
Believe  me,  my  dear  sir, 

Yours  very  truly, 
A.  TENNYSON 

Tennyson's  interest  in  his  "hamper  of  pro- 
visions" and  the  supplies  from  the  farm  is 
about  as  unpoetic  as  the  contents  of  my  Shelley 
letter,  which  does  not  quite  breathe  the  spirit 
of  Adonais  or  the  Ode  to  the  Skylark.  It  is 
addressed  to  "  Messrs  Hayward,  Esq.  Solicitor, 


Percy  Bysshe  Shelley 
From  an  engraving  by  W.  Finden 


fcjr,  $*  P 


A.  L.  S.  of  Percy  Bysshe  Shelley  to  Hayward,  April  27,  1817 


<S>wn  Collection  153 


Tookes    Court,    Chancery    Lane,    London," 
with  the  "Messrs"  crossed  out. 

MARLOW,  April  27,  1817. 
DEAR  SIR: 

Be  so  good  as  to  pay  the  debt  of  Mrs.  Peacock;  I 
enclose  a  check  for  that  purpose.     I  need  not  say 
that  I  should  be  extremely  glad  if  any  accommoda- 
tion short  of  the  actual  amount  would  be  accepted. 
Your  very  obliged  servt  — 
PERCY  B.  SHELLEY. 

No  reason  is  assigned  why  the  creditor 
should  not  receive  the  "actual  amount"  due, 
but  perhaps  that  is  the  true  poetic  view  of  the 
subject  of  debt-paying,  when  the  poet  is  the 
debtor. 

I  find  that  Mrs.  Fields's  specimen  of  Shelley 
—  which  she  says  is  "at  first  sight  not  at  all 
characteristic"  —  is  very  much  like  mine.  I 
quote  it  from  A  Shelf  of  Old  Books. 

DEAR  SIR,  Enclosed  is  a  check  for  (within  a  few 
shillings)  the  amount  of  your  bill.  Can't  you  make 
the  Booksellers  subscribe  more  of  the  Poem? 

Your  most  obedient  serv. 

PERCY  BYSSHE  SHELLEY 
Jan.  16,  1818. 

I  think  it  is  highly  characteristic.    Mani- 


154    IRamblea  in  Hutograpb  Xanb 

festly   he  was  afflicted    with    a    mania    for 
"  rebates." 

Bryan  Waller  Procter's  letters  are  always 
pleasant  and  graceful.  I  quote  one  of  them, 
for  it  is  about  autographs,  and  it  shows  a 
commendable  sympathy  with  collectors.  He 
writes  to  a  friend: 

Wednesday,  25  BEDFORD  SQUARE. 

My  conscience  (a  tender  thing)  has  been  reproach- 
ing me  any  time  this  month  past  touching  some  auto- 
graphs which  I  promised  you.  You  yourself  (having 
promised  on  the  thought  of  my  promise)  are  probably 
in  a  similar  dilemma  of  conscience, — and  are  medi- 
tating perhaps  divers  unsatisfactory  excuses  towards 
.  .  .  who,  if  I  recollect  right,  is  to  be  the  depositary 
of  these  same  invaluable  autographs.  But  comfort 
yourself.  I  have  enclosed  them,  as  rich  a  catalogue 
of  nothings  as  the  apothecary's  shop  (in  Romeo  and 
Juliet)  produced.  Such  as  they  are,  however,  they 
are  all  that  I  can  at  present  lay  hands  on.  If  in  the 
course  of  a  subsequent  search  I  should  alight  upon  the 
hieroglyphics  of  any  other  poet  or  proser  who  bids 
fair  to  be  immortal  for  the  next  12  or  15  months,  I 
will  make  you  pay  double  its  value  by  sending  it  to 
you  by  the  two  penny  post. 

In  another  letter  written  on  Christmas  day, 
1866,  when  he  was  in  his  eightieth  year,  he 
says: 


3  2,W  KTUOOTH    STtiET, 
POtTLAHD    PI  A  C  Z     ». 


First  page  of  A.  L.  S.  (3  pages)  of  Bryan  Waller  Proctor,  December  25,  1866 


<§>wn  Collection          155 


I  have  called  Lamb  and  Hazlitt  "Unitarians."1 
They  were  so,  according  to  their  own  professions  and 
these  I  accept  as  truth.  I  am  not  able  to  penetrate 
deeper  and  cross-examine  them.  As  to  Leigh  Hunt, 
I  confess  that  he  is  a  problem.  I  knew  him  for  forty 
years.  He  was  continually  tampering  (coquetting) 
with  matters  in  religion  and  morals  that  we  are  accus- 
tomed to  consider  as  true  and  beyond  question;  and 
I  have  known  him  pushed  to  the  verge  of  ill-temper 
(yet  he  was  a  good  tempered  man)  by  requests  to 
explain  what  he  meant  by  "Nature"  and  similar 
vague  phrases  which  he  was  accustomed  to  resort  to. 
Hazlitt  used  to  say  "Damn  it,  its  like  a  rash  that 
comes  out  every  year  in  him.  Why  does  n't  he  write 
a  book  and  get  rid  of  it?"  I  suppose  that  poor  Hunt 
knows  all  the  truth  now  —  all  that  so  few  understand. 
He  is  beyond  the  ultima  linea  rerum.  ...  As  to 
my  own  small  matters,  I  am  quite  content  that  they 
should  crumble  away  and  be  forgotten.  Literature 
was  never  my  profession  and  no  one  can  do  much 
unless  he  strives  and  gives  his  whole  soul  to  it.  I  am 
glad  that  you  like  (or  do  I  mistake?)  my  memoir  of 
dear  Charles  Lamb. 


But  I  fear  I  long  ago  reached  the  tiresome 
stage  in  the  matter  of  poets'  letters.  Just 
one  more — for  it  refers  to  a  Washington  letter, 
which  I  have  already  mentioned,  and  also  to  a 
Milton  document.  It  is  from  Samuel  Rogers. 

1 1  think  it  is  "  Unitarians  " ;  the  word  is  not  very  legible. 


156    IRambles  in  Hutograpb 


April  12,  1841. 

MY  DEAR  SIR:— 

Many,  many  thanks  for  your  kind  letter  and  for 
the  precious  relick  which  [you]  inclosed  in  it.  I  have 
already  another  no  less  precious,  for  which  I  am  in- 
debted to  Mr.  Hamilton,  a  letter  to  his  father  from 
General  Washington  and  on  a  most  interesting  sub- 
ject, his  acceptance  of  the  Presidency.  I  have  placed 
them  side  by  side.  I  touch  them  with  all  reverence, 
and  may  they  go  down  together  inspiring  the  senti- 
ments they  breathe  from  generation  to  generation  ! 

You  ask  me  concerning  Milton's  assignment.  I 
can  only  say  that  its  authenticity  has  never  been 
questioned.  The  handwriting  is  the  same  as  in  all 
his  other  deeds.  It  has  always  been  referred  to  as  an 
historical  document,  and  was  acquired  by  Sir  Thomas 
Lawrence  together  with  an  assignment  of  Dryden 
witnessed  by  Congreve  (a  writing  also  which  I  be- 
lieve you  saw  in  my  possession)  from  the  executors 
of  Tonson,  the  bookseller.  The  handwriting  of  a 
blind  man  being  called  forth  only  on  important  occa- 
sions is  not  so  likely  to  degenerate  as  another's  would 
do. 

When  will  you  come  and  see  me  again?  Pray,  pray 
come  soon  as  I  may  not  be  to  be  [sic]  found  here. 

Sincerely  yours, 
SAML  ROGERS 

ST.  JAMES'S  PLACE. 
LONDON. 

You  may  remember  that  the  signature  only  is 
written  by  Milton.  The  deed  is  by  a  lawyer  and  it 
is  witnessed  by  John  Fisher  and  by  Benjamin  Green, 
servants  to  Mr.  Milton. 


AMU  JE  L.      ROGERS 


Samuel  Rogers 

Prom  an  engraving  by  W.  Finden  after  the  painting  by  Sir  Thomas 
Lawrence 


First  page  of  A.  L.  S.  (2  pages)  of  Samuel  Rogers,  April  12,  1841 


©wn  Collection  157 


Rogers  lived  until  December,  1855,  fourteen 
years  after  this  letter  was  written.  The 
Milton  document  was  the  original  articles 
of  agreement  between  Milton  and  his  printer 
for  the  sale  of  the  copyright  of  Paradise  Lost. 
Rogers  obtained  it  in  1831,  and  in  1852  he 
gave  it  to  the  British  Museum.  Facsimiles 
of  the  beginning  and  ending  are  to  be  found  in 
Dr.  Scott's  book.  This  important  document 
was  disposed  of  at  the  sale  of  Sir  Thomas 
Lawrence's  effects  for  $315.  Rogers  paid 
$525  for  it. 


CHAPTER  IX 

DIARIES 

Diaries — Evelyn  and  Pepys — Letter  of  Evelyn — Richard  Steele 
to  Sir  Thomas  Hanmer — Samuel  Johnson — Edmund  Burke 
to  Fanny  Burney — Lord  Monboddo — Lord  Clive — Earl 
of  Shelburne — Lord  Chatham — An  Autograph  Beggar — 
John  Ruskin — J.  S.  Mill — Charles  Dickens — Richard  Cobden 

THE  Diary  of  John  Evelyn  possesses  histori- 
cal interest  but  the  Diary  of  Samuel  Pepys  will 
always  be  more  charming,  because  Pepys 
was  the  more  human  of  the  two  men  and  he 
reveals  himself  with  absolute  freedom ;  more- 
over there  is  a  flavour  of  naughtiness  about 
the  disclosures  which  always  tends  to  the 
enjoyment  of  the  reader  although  he  might  not 
always  confess  it.  De  Quincey  had  but  a 
poor  opinion  of  Evelyn,  and  said:  "The  mind 
of  a  man  is  very  generally  seen  in  the  use  he 
makes  of  a  journal ;  Evelyn  is  very  meagre  and 
bad."  We  are  not  all  of  that  opinion,  and 

158 


John  Evelyn 

From  the  engraving  by  W.  H.  Worthington  after  the  painting  by 

Walker 


Diaries  159 

Evelyn's  Diary,  although  not  so  lively  as  the 
record  kept  for  a  few  years  by  his  rival  diarist, 
is  valuable  as  the  story  of  the  life  of  a  scholarly 
man  in  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  The  friendship  of  the  two  diarists 
continued  until  the  death  of  Pepys  in  1703, 
and  his  older  contemporary  survived  him 
only  three  years.  Pepys  seems  to  have  under- 
stood Evelyn  and  his  vanity  fairly  well,  but 
Evelyn  did  not  fully  understand  Pepys,  whose 
self -disclosures  were  generally  confined  to  the 
pages  of  his  journal.  It  is  pleasant  to  con- 
template a  letter  which  is  intimately  associated 
with  both  of  them, — one  which  Evelyn  ad- 
dressed "  For  Saml.  Pepys  Esq.  at  Mr.  Hewer's 
house  at  Clappham,  Surry,"  and  which  bears 
the  endorsement  in  Pepys's  handwriting :  "  Mr. 
Evelyn  to  S.  P.  A  Letter  of  Regret  after  my 
sickness,  with  a  Request  of  Mr.  Arch- Deacon 
Nicholson's  touching  ye  use  of  some  of  my 
Scotch  manuscripts." 

DOVER  STREET,  10  May,  1700. 
SR— 

I  do  most  heartily  congratulate  ye  Improvement  of 
your  health,  since  your  change  of  aire;  which  accept- 


160    IRambles  in  autograph  TLarto 

able  newes  your  Servant  brought  this  morning,  and 
returned  to  you  with  our  prayers  and  wishes  for  the 
happy  progress  and  full  restitution  of  it.  In  the 
mean  time  I  take  this  opportunity  of  acquainting 
you  that  a  worthy  correspondent  of  mine  (I  am  sure 
not  unknown  to  you,  Mr.  Nicolson,  Arch- Deacon  of 
Carlisle)  being  it  seems  about  a  work  in  which  he  has 
occasion  to  mention  some  Affairs  relating  to  the  Scotts ; 
and  hearing  from  me  that  you  were  Indispos'd,  writes 
this  to  me — 

"  I  am  troubled  to  heare  of  Mr.  Pepy's  Indisposition; 
I  heartily  wish  his  recovery  and  the  continuance  of  a 
restored  health.  When  I  was  an  attendant  on  Mr. 
Sec.  Williamson  about  20  years  ago,  I  often  waited 
on  him  at  his  house  in  Westminster.  But  I  was  then 
(as  I  still  am)  too  inconsiderable  to  be  remembered 
by  him.  Besides  an  account  of  the  author  (if  known) 
of  his  Ms.  Life  of  Mary  Q.  of  Scotts;  I  very  much 
desire  to  know,  whether  there  be  any  valuable  matters 
relating  to  the  History  of  Scotland  amongst  Sr  R. 
Maitland's  collections  of  Scottish  poems?  I  observe 
that  in  the  same  volume  with  Balfour's  Practique 
(or  Reports,  as  we  call  'em)  he  has  a  manuscript  of 
the  old  Sea  Laws  of  Scotland;  I  would  beg  to  be 
Informed  whether  this  last  Treatise  be  the  same  with 
the  Leges  poster  em  (?)  which  (tho'  quoted  by  Sr  Jo. 
Skene,  under  that  Latine  title)  is  written  in  the  Scotish 
Language,  and  is  onely  a  List  of  the  Customes  of 
Goods  Imported  and  Exported:  If  I  may  (through 
your  kind  intercession)  have  the  favour  of  transcrib- 
ing anything  to  my  purpose  out  of  his  Library;  I  have 
a  young  kindsman  (a  clarke  to  Mr.  Musgrave  of  this 
Parish)  who  will  waite  on  him  to  that  purpose. " 


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A.  L.  S.  of  John  Evelyn  to  Samuel  Pepys,  May  10,  1700 


Diaries  161 

This  Sr.,  is  Mr.  A.  D.'s  Request,  and  which  indeede 
I  should  have  communicated  to  you,  when  I  was  lately 
to  kiss  your  hands:  But  so  was  I  transported  with 
seeing  you  in  so  hopefull  and  faire  a  way  of  Recovery, 
as  it  quite  put  this,  and  all  other  things  else  out  of 
my  thoughts. 

I  am  now  (God  willing)  about  the  middle  of  next 
Week,  for  a  Summer  residence  at  Wotton;  where  I 
have  enough  to  do  with  a  decayed  and  ruinous 
dwelling;  But  where  yet  my  Friends  (or  at  least 
their  Letters),  will  find  me;  And  if  I  suspend  my 
answer  to  Mr.  Nicolson  'til  you  are  at  perfect  leasure 
to  enable  me  what  to  write  (without  giving  you  the 
least  disturbance)  I  am  sure  he  will  be  highly  satisfyed. 

As  I  begun,  so  let  me  conclude  with  the  most  ear- 
nest prayer  for  your  Health  and  hapyness. 

Sr,  Your  most  faithfull  humble  servant, 

EVELYN 

My  wife  presents  her  most  humble  service  to  you 
and  we  both  kiss  Mrs.  Skiner's  hands. 

When  Richard  Steele  was  a  member  of 
Parliament,  in  the  time  of  Queen  Anne,  he 
produced,  with  the  aid  of  Addison  and  others, 
a  pamphlet  called  The  Crisis,  in  which  he 
dealt  with  the  political  questions  of  the  day, 
notably  with  the  matter  of  the  Hanoverian 
succession,  in  such  manner  as  to  draw  upon 
himself  the  wrath  of  all  the  Tories.  Early 
in  1714  a  motion  was  made  to  expel  him  from 


162    "Rambles  in  Sutograpb  %ant> 

his  seat,  on  account  of  the  alleged  seditious 
nature  of  his  writings;  this  was  carried  on 
the  night  of  March  18,  1714.  The  next  day 
he  wrote  to  Sir  Thomas  Hanmer,  the  Speaker 
of  the  House,  his  friend  whom  he  had  sup- 
ported for  the  Speakership  in  the  preceding 
February,  suggesting  a  certain  line  of  conduct 
in  reference  to  his  misfortune.  The  letter  is 
given  in  full  in  Aitkin's  Life  of  Steele,  ii., 
20-21.  Sir  Thomas  replied  on  March  2Oth, 
pointing  out  the  inadvisability  of  following  the 
suggestions  and  giving  Steele  some  judicious 
counsel.  Steele 's  answer,  dated  on  March 
2ist,  is  now  in  my  hands  and  is  as  follows: 


BLOOMSBURY  SQUARE. 
March  21,  1714. 

HONOURED  SIR: 

I  hope  you  will  have  the  goodnesse  to  forgive  the 
method  I  tooke  towards  coming  at  another  examina- 
tion of  my  writings. 

Before  I  had  the  Honour  of  receiving  yours  I  had 
written  to  Mr.  Wortley  that  your  Hesitation  in  the 
matter  had  determined  me  that  I  had  taken  a  wrong 
way. 

I  give  you  my  most  humble  thanks  for  condescend- 
ing with  your  usuall  clearnesse  and  perspicuity  to 
explain  to  me  my  errour. 


Richard  Steele 
From  the  engraving  by  G.  Vertue  after  the  painting  by  I.  Thornhill 


v 


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,^ 


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4.A  K 


t 


A.  L.  So  of  Richard  Steele  to  Sir  Thomas  Hamner,  March  21,  1714 


Diaries  163 

You  have  added  the  authority  of  reason  to  an 
Implicit  relyance  on  your  character  in  convincing 
Yr  most  obedient  &  most  humble  servant, 

RICHARD  STEELE 

Samuel  Johnson  died  on  December  13,  1784; 
on  September  4th  of  that  year  he  wrote  a 
number  of  letters  from  Ashbourne,  three  of 
which  are  published  in  whole  or  in  part  in  Dr. 
Hill's  edition  of  Boswell,  but  one  in  my  posses- 
sion seems  not  to  have  been  printed.  I  do 
not  know  the  name  of  .the  man  to  whom  it 
was  addressed,  but  I  think  it  must  have  been 
the  King's  Librarian.  The  handwriting  shows 
no  signs  of  feebleness. 

SIR:— 

I  am  pleased  that  you  have  been  able  to  adorn  the 
royal  library  with  a  book  which  I  believe  to  be  very 
rare,  for  I  have  not  seen  it.  I  have  a  very  good  copyi 
and  did  not  know  that  it  had  been  printed  on  two 
kinds  of  paper.  The  Polyglot  Bible  is  undoubtedly 
the  greatest  performance  of  English  typography,  per- 
haps of  all  typography,  and  therefore  ought  to  appear 
in  its  most  splendid  form  among  the  books  of  the 
King  of  England.  I  wish  you  like  success  in  all  your 
researches. 

The  part  of  your  letter  that  relates  to  a  writer 
whom  you  do  not  name,  has  so  much  tenderness, 
benevolence,  and  liberality,  in  language  so  unlike  the 


164    Gambles  in  Hutograpb 


talk  of  trade,  that  it  must  be  a  flinty  bosom  that  is 
not  softened  into  gratitude. 

It  has  now  pleased  God  to  restore  my  health  to  a 
much  better  state,  than  when  I  parted  from  London  ; 
if  my  strength  increases,  indeed  if  it  does  not  grow 
less,  I  shall  hope  to  concert  measures  with  you,  and, 
by  your  help,  to  carry  on  the  design  to  considerable 
advantage. 

In  the  mean  time  accept,  dear  sir,  my  sincere  thanks 
for  your  generous  offer  and  friendly  regard.  Event 
is  uncertain  and  fallacious,  but  of  good  intention  the 
merit  stands  upon  a  basis  that  never  can  be  shaken. 

Add  to  your  other  favors  that  of  writing  often  to, 
Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 
SAM:  JOHNSON 

ASHBURN,  Sept.  4,  1784. 

I  trouble  you  with  two  letters. 

"Pretty  Fanny,"  as  Dr.  Johnson  called 
Miss  Burney,  is  reasonably  sure  of  a  per- 
manent place  in  men's  memories,  because  of 
her  diaries  if  not  for  her  novels;  in  fact  she 
wrote  only  two  novels  of  merit,  and  they  are 
of  that  order  which,  at  this  day,  are  more 
written  about  than  read.  Austin  Dobson 
said  that  the  greatest  debt  of  gratitude  we  owe 
to  Fanny  Burney  is  that  she  prepared  the  way 
for  Jane  Austen!  Fanny  would  have  sulked 
and  pouted  at  such  a  dubious  compliment. 


U*  SAMl'Kl.    ,JO1 


Samuel  Johnson 


0 


frLu,    Oil    HvoU' 
I    >  i 


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Last  page  of  A.  L.  S.  (2  pages)  of  Samuel  Johnson,  September  4,  1784 


Diaries  165 

For  her  second  novel,  Cecilia,  she  received 
only  £250,  which  seems  a  small  sum  when  we 
think  of  the  amazing  popularity  of  Evelina; 
but  it  may  have  been  a  handsome  compensa- 
tion in  those  times.  Fanny  tells  with  justi- 
fiable pride  that  Burke  made  her  many  most 
eloquent  compliments  on  this  book,  "too 
delicate  either  to  shock  or  sicken  the  nicest 
ear";  and  she  wrote  to  "Daddy"  Crisp, 
thanking  him  for  his  approving  words  but 
adding:  "though  I  cannot  say  they  ever  gave 
me  a  promise  of  such  success  as  last  Tuesday's 
post  brought  me  in  a  letter  from  Mr.  Burke ! ! ! " 
That  Burke  letter,  often  quoted,  is  so  well 
known  that  I  hesitate  to  reproduce  it;  but 
the  original  before  me  has  that  peculiar  charm 
which  clings  to  the  actual  pen-tracings  of  a 
great  man. 

MADAM — 

I  should  feel  exceedingly  to  blame,  if  I  could  refuse 
myself  the  natural  satisfaction,  &  to  you  the  just  but 
poor  return  of  my  best  thanks  for  the  very  great  in- 
struction &  entertainment  I  have  received  from  the 
new  present  you  have  bestowed  on  the  publick. 

There  are  few,  I  believe  I  may  say  fairly,  there  are 
none  at  all,  that  will  not  find  themselves  better  in- 


166    IRambles  in  Hutograpb  Slant) 


formed  concerning  human  nature,  &  their  stock    of 
observation  enrich'd  by  reading  your  Cecilia. 

They  certainly  will,  let  their  experience  in  life  & 
manners  be  what  it  may.  The  arrogance  of  age 
must  submit  to  be  taught  by  youth  and  beauty. 

You  have  crowded  into  a  few  small  volumes  an  incred- 
ible variety  of  characters ;  most  of  them  well  planned, 
well  supported,  and  well  contrasted  with  each  other. 

If  there  be  any  fault  in  this  respect,  it  is  one,  in 
which  you  are  in  no  great  danger  of  being  imitated. 
Justly  as  your  characters  are  drawn,  perhaps  they 
are  too  numerous;  but  I  beg  pardon:  I  fear  it  is  quite 
in  vain  to  preach  economy  to  those  who  are  come 
young  to  excessive  &  sudden  opulence. 

I  might  trespass  on  your  delicacy  if  I  should  fill 
my  letter  to  you  with  what  I  fill  my  conversation  to 
others.  I  should  be  troublesome  to  you  alone,  if  I 
should  tell  you  all  I  feel,  and  think,  on  the  natural 
vein  of  humour,  the  tender  pathetick,  the  compre- 
hensive &  noble  moral,  &  the  sagacious  observation, 
that  appear  quite  throughout  that  extraordinary  per- 
formance. In  an  age  distinguished  by  producing  ex- 
traordinary women,  I  hardly  dare  to  tell  you  where 
my  opinion  would  place  you  amongst  them.  I  respect 
your  modesty,  that  will  not  endure  the  commenda- 
tions which  your  merit  forces  from  everybody. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be  with  great  gratitude,  re- 
spect and  esteem, 
Madam, 

Your  most  obedient 

&  most  humble  serv', 

WHITE  HALL.  EDM.  BURKE 

July  agth,  1782. 


Edmund  Burke 


&s7&    A 


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**"' 


Le  tc&±_. 


First  page  of  A.  L.  S.  of  Edmund  Burke  to  Fanny  Burney,  July  29,  1782 


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Last  page  of  A.  L.  S.  of  Edmund  Burke  to  Fanny  Burneya  July  29,  1782 


Diaries  167 

My  best  compliments  &  congratulations  to  Doctor 
Burney  on  the  great  honour  acquired  to  his  family. 
(Address:  Miss  BURNEY — ) 

Dr.  Burney  wrote  that  when  he  told  John- 
son that  Burke  had  thanked  Fanny  for  her 
instruction^  Johnson  said:  '  'Tis  very  true, 
Sir,  no  man  can  read  it  without  having  ideas 
awakened  in  his  mind  that  will  mend  the 
heart.  When  Fanny  reasons  and  writes  from 
her  own  feelings  she  is  exquisite." 

It  is  rather  a  far  cry  from  Johnson  and 
Burke  to  Lord  Monboddo,  but  autograph 
portfolios  sometimes  make  strange  bedfellows. 
James  Burnett,  who  was  a  judge  and  who 
became  Lord  Monboddo,  learned  and  eccen- 
tric, gained  immortality  less  by  his  learning 
than  by  his  theory  that  "the  orang-outang 
was  of  a  class  of  the  human  species,  and  that 
its  want  of  speech  was  merely  accidental,"  a 
thesis  which  was  popularised  into  the  assertion, 
more  interesting  to  the  multitude,  that  man  was 
originally  possessed  of  a  tail.  He  was  ridiculed 
in  his  day,  but  we  know  now  that  his  views 
were  advanced  and  scientific  and  that  he  was, 
in  a  way,  anticipating  Darwinism.  His  letter 


168    1Raml>le0  in  Hutosrapb 


is  addressed  to  Thomas  Cadell,  the  elder,  fam- 
ous bookseller  and  publisher,  and  the  book  he 
refers  to  is  probably  Antient  Metaphysics,  the 
first  volume  of  which  was  published  in  1779. 

EDIN.    ii  March  1779. 
SIR— 

Mr.  Balfour  will  send  you  by  the  first  ship  from 
Leith  a  new  book  of  mine,  not  yet  published  here  and 
which  I  do  not  intend  should  be  published  till  it  be 
first  published  by  you.  It  will  not  be  as  you  may  see 
from  the  Title  a  popular  book  nor  of  great  sale;  but 
it  will  not  disgrace  your  shop  in  the  opinion  of  the 
learned;  and  it  is  to  look  for  such  books,  as  I  am 
informed,  that  the  learned  come  to  your  shop.  Your 
profit  by  it,  I  am  afraid  will  not  be  great;  but  as  I 
hear  there  are  but  few  books  published  at  present, 
you  may  think  it  worth  shop-room  though  I  do  not 
put  my  name  upon  the  title  page,  you  heed  not  make 
it  a  secret  that  it  is  my  work.  As  soon  as  you  get  the 
book,  send  copies  to  the  following  persons:  The  Earl 
of  Mansfield,  Sir  John  Pringle,  Mr.  Bankus,  President 
of  the  Royal  Society,  Dr.  Morton,  Secretary  of  that 
Society,  and  Mr.  George  Scot,  Commissioner  of  Cus- 
toms. I  refer  you  to  Mr.  Balfour  for  the  particulars 
concerning  the  advertisement  a  copy  of  which  he  will 
send  you. 

I  am,  Sir  — 

Your  most  obedt  humble  servant, 

JAS.  BURNETT 

(Address  :  MR.  THOMAS  CADELL  —  Bookseller  in  the 
Strand,  London.) 


ROBERT  Xor«i  CLIVJE, 


Robert,  Baron  Clive 


Diaries  169 

A  very  different  sort  of  a  Lord  was  Robert 
Clive,  the  Baron  of  Plassey.  After  he  had  com- 
pleted his  conquests  in  India,  by  which  he  trans- 
formed the  East  India  Company  from  a  mere 
association  of  merchants  into  a  body  of  princes 
enjoying  vast  revenues  and  ruling  millions  of 
people,  he  went  back  to  England ;  but  those  who 
succeeded  him  in  the  government  did  not  pos- 
sess his  commanding  ability  and  fell  into  so 
many  errors  and  abuses  that  the  resulting  dis- 
order and  hostilities  demanded  his  return.  Ac- 
cordingly he  was  sent  back  by  the  Company  to 
effect  a  reform.  With  four  of  his  trusted  friends 
he  reached  Calcutta  in  May,  1765,  and  in  the 
ensuing  November  he  wrote  the  letter  which 
follows.  The  story  of  his  later  controversies 
at  home  and  of  his  suicide  is  a  familiar  one. 


CALCUTTA,  sth  Nov.  1765. 
DEAR  PYBUS — 

I  must  request  you  will  not  detain  these  [illegible] 
a  moment,  they  are  dispatched  upon  business  of  the 
utmost  consequence  to  the  Company  and  are  to  have 
one  thousand  rupees  if  they  perform  their  journey  to 
Madras  in  24  days.  You  are  the  best  judge,  if  they 
can  proceed  any  part  of  the  way  by  water. 

The  purport  of  our  letter  to  the  Presidency  is  to  desire 


i;o    IRambles  in  Hutograpb  %ani> 

that  Messrs.  Rupell,  Aldersey,  Kelsall,  and  Floyer  may 
be  sent  immediately  to  supply  the  vacant  seats  in  Coun- 
cil by  the  suspension  and  resignation  of  Messrs.  Bur- 
dett,  Gray,  Senior,  &  Leicester ;  this  settlement  is  rotten 
to  the  very  core  &  I  shall  despair  of  going  through  with 
the  undertaking  without  the  assistance  of  the  above- 
mentioned  gentlemen.  I  have  desired  they  may  set 
out  immediately  overland  &  Mr.  Kelsall  may  accom- 
pany them.  Be  sure  to  give  me  notice  of  their  motions 
that  I  may  send  some  Seapoys  as  far  as  Cuttuch  to 
eschort  them.  They  will  I  imagine  have  nothing  to 
apprehend  if  they  come  privately  &  without  a  large 
attendance — they  should  have  relays  of  bearers. 

The  reformation  of  this  settlement,  the  reduction  of 
the  military  expenses,  &  the  collection  of  the  revenues 
of  these  ...  is  a  great  undertaking  indeed ;  however 
we  have  already  made  a  great  progress  &  I  make  no 
doubt  but  the  abilities  &  assistance  of  the  Madras 
gentlemen  will  enable  me  to  accomplish  at  last  the 
intentions  of  the  Company. 

Enclosed  I  send  you  a  short  sketch  of  the  Company's 
prospects  at  present ;  they  will  be  yearly  improving. 

I  hope  you  are  getting  ready  my  Long  Cloth  &c. 
Your  diamond  has  been  valued  by  3  .  .  .  jewellers  &  the 
medium  given  by  my  attorneys  amounts  to  £2666. 13 — • 
4d  so  that  you  may  finaly  settle  every  thing  by  paying 
the  Ballance  to  Kelsall  agreeable  to  your  own  desire. 
I  am,  dear  Pybus — 

Yr  affec.  friend  &  servt, 

(Endorsed —  CLIVE 

The  R  HONBLE  LD  CLIVE. 


Dated  5tl 
and  30th 


I  Nov.  1765- 
) 


Last  page  of  A.  L.  S.  (3  pages)  of  Robert,  Baron  dire,  November  5,  1765 


Diaries  171 

When  William  Petty,  Earl  of  Shelburne  and 
later  Marquis  of  Lansdowne,  wrote  this  letter 
to  Lord  Egremont,  he  was  only  twenty-five,  but 
he  had  served  in  the  army  in  Germany  and  in 
the  House  of  Commons.  He  stood  with  Chat- 
ham against  the  attempt  to  coerce  the  American 
colonies,  although,  while  he  advocated  concil- 
iation, he  was  strongly  opposed  to  American 
independence.  Had  his  advice  been  followed 
we  might  never  have  gained  that  independence, 
so  perhaps  George  III.  and  his  silly  Ministers 
were  better  friends  of  ours  than  Chatham  or 
Shelburne  without  intending  it.  This  letter 
indicates  the  enlightenment  of  Shelburne's 
views.  At  the  time  it  was  written,  Pitt  had 
resigned,  England  had  abandoned  Prussia, 
and  Spain  had  joined  France  in  war  against 
England ;  but  the  peace  of  1 763  was  in  contem- 
plation, when  Canada  was  to  be  given  up  by 
France  and  with  it  the  island  of  Cape  Breton, 
of  which  Choiseul  said:  "I  ceded  it  on  purpose 
to  destroy  the  English  nation.  They  were 
fond  of  American  dominion  and  I  resolved 
they  should  have  enough  of  it."  Nearly  a 
century  and  a  half  has  gone  by,  but  England 


172    "Rambles  in  Hutoarapb  %ant> 

still  has  Canada  and  Cape  Breton,  and  the 
nation  has  not  yet  been  destroyed. 


WHITTON,  July  9,  1762. 
MY  DEAR  LORD: 

I  send  you  inclos'd  a  Letter  from  Francis. — I  have 
written  to  him  that  the  opening  he  mentions  of  the 
German  Commissariat  &  Prince  Ferdinand's  Intrigues 
in  it  may  be  very  proper.  The  consideration  of 
occonomy  may  be  even  extended  to  N.  America 
which  has  been  little  consider'd,  and  where  the  War 
has  been  carried  on  in  like  manner  however,  without 
Plan,  Knowledge  or  Foresight  of  any  sort.  But  that 
at  present  it  is  necessary  to  bring  back  the  minds  of 
the  People  to  the  origin  of  the  War,  and  to  their  State 
in  1754.  That  &  that  alone  can  dispose  men  to  form 
just  Judgments  of  the  conditions  of  a  Peace  whenever 
they  may  come.  The  expence  &c.  of  the  War  then 
becomes  a  strong  additional  argument  after  it  has 
been  first  shewn  that  the  intent  of  it  was  to  defend 
not  to  acquire  which  is  impossible  by  the  nature  of  it, 
being  different  from  all  former  Wars,  even  on  the 
Continent,  where  however  the  chief  part  of  our  expence 
now  lies.  He  is  desirous  of  the  Papers  relative  to  the 
Kg.  of  Prussia's  offer  in  1756 — as  Mr.  Fox,  tho  he  was 
Secretary  of  State  that  year  knows  nothing  of  them.  I 
have  told  him  in  all  events  to  come  here  on  Monday. 
If  your  Lordship  have  anything  to  add,  you  '11  be  so 
good  therefore  to  let  me  know  before  that. 

I  am  with  great  regard,  my  dear  Lord, 

Your  most  Faithful  Servt. 

(To  LORD  EGREMONT).          SHELBURNE 


Diaries  173 

The  following  letter  from  Chatham  was 
written  shortly  before  he  resigned  from  the 
ministry  and  when  Spain  was  diligently 
seeking  for  reasons  to  declare  war. 

HAYES,  Sunday,  June  29th  1760. 
Private — 

DEAR  SIR — 

Wanting  very  much  your  lights  and  assistance  in  a 
matter  of  great  consequence,  I  should  be  extremely  glad 
if  your  engagements  should  happen  to  leave  you  at 
liberty  tomorrow  morning,  in  which  case  I  will  beg  the 
favour  of  seeing  you  in  St.  James's  Square  at  a  little 
before  eleven.  The  matter  in  question  is  the  ground  of 
the  sentences  of  condemnation  in  Doctor's  Commons 
against  ships  under  Spanish  Commissions,  the  Spanish 
Ambassador  having  advanced  positively  and  strongly 
in  a  memorial  on  this  embarrassing  subject,  that  all 
Spanish  ships  have  been  immediately  and  indiscrimin- 
ately condemn'd  at  Doctor's  Commons  for  carrying 
French  property.  I  trust  this  allegation  will  be  found 
unsupported  in  fact,  and  if,  as  I  hope,  regard  has  been 
had  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Court  of  Admiralty  to 
the  King's  orders  and  instructions  of  ye  5"  Octr.  1756, 
I  may  be  enabled  to  answer  with  advantage  that  part, 
at  least,  of  the  memorial,  which  contains  an  imputation 
without  foundation.  I  thought  it  might  not  be  useless 
to  break  thus  far  the  subject  I  wish  to  confer  with  you 
upon.  I  am  with  perfect  esteem  &  consideration 
Dear  Sir, 

most  faithfully  &  affecly  yrs — 

WM  PITT 


174    IRambles  in  Hutograpb  Haiti) 

There  is  a  time-honoured  device  of  the 
unscrupulous  autograph-hunter — who  may 
be  more  justly  called  autograph-poacher 
— much  vaunted  by  Mr.  Charles  Robin- 
son, to  wit:  that  of  asking  of  the  victim 
some  apparently  innocent  question,  usu- 
ally of  a  nature  flattering  to  the  self- 
esteem  of  the  personage  addressed.  Nearly 
every  one  bites  at  this  pleasant  bait — 
statesmen,  soldiers,  authors — authors  more 
greedily  than  any  of  the  others.  It  is  not 
disagreeable  to  be  requested  for  informa- 
tion as  to  when  such  and  such  a  book  was 
first  published  or  for  advice  to  a  literary 
neophyte,  gazing  from  afar  at  the  star  of 
genius.  In  the  course  of  his  experience  a 
collector  constantly  encounters  examples  of 
this  despicable  method,  the  knowledge  of 
which  brings  the  blush  of  shame  to  his  in- 
genuous countenance.  I  have  been  much  in- 
terested in  the  success  of  our  William  Riddle. 
I  began  by  believing  in  Mr.  Riddle's  sincerity 
when  I  first  came  upon  his  illustrious  name 
as  the  recipient  of  this  letter  from  John 
Ruskin : 


John  Ruskin 
From  an  old  woodcut 


Diaries  175 

CORPUS  CHRISTI  COLLEGE 

OXFORD. 
MY  DEAR  MR.  RIDDLE — 

I  did  not  in  the  least  mean  to  hurt  you — but  if  pos- 
sible— which  to  my  surprise  I  see  was  possible — to 
stagger  you,  and  get  you  to  think  in  other  directions. 
You  may  be  of  great  use — none  of  us  know  what  use — 
we  must  all  wait  and  do  what  we  are  asked  by  God 
to  do.  When  He  wants  you  to  lecture,  He  will  find 
you  the  place  &  means.  He  would  for  instance  enable 
you  to  convince  me  or  some  other  hard  "man  of  prac- 
tical sense"  that  what  you  tried  to  say  was  right — and 
we  could  help — nay  send  you  to  say  it.  But  if  you  can- 
not convince  us  neither  would  you  others  less  docile. 

"  Self  -adoration "  is  just  thinking  that  the  world 
can't  do  without  us,  nor  God  manage  his  own  business. 

I  talk — but  only  because  chance  has  always  forced 
me  into  positions  where  it  was  required.  I  should 
most  thankfully  hold  my  tongue  were  I  not  pushed 
into  places  where  speech  is  demanded.  I  have  to 
speak  on  Thursday — I  wish  the  audience  were  at 
Jerusalem  or  Jericho — or  anywhere  but  in  hearing  of 
me.  Go  on  thinking  and  making  your  purposes  clear. 
The  time  will  come  for  talk  if  they  are  so. 
Ever  truly,  sir, 

Affectionately  yours, 

J.  RUSKIN 

This  was  characteristic.  That  sort  of  easy 
familiarity  with  the  Deity  which  enables  Mr. 
Ruskin  to  assert  that  God  will  tell  Riddle 
when  to  "lecture, "  while  only  "chance"  is 


1 76    IRambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanfc 

needed  to  set  Ruskin  to  talking  is  rather  start- 
ling; and  his  delusion  that  he  was  "a  hard 
man  of  practical  sense"  is  amusing,  for  prac- 
ticality was  by  no  means  one  of  his  distinctive 
virtues.  But  then  he  was  Ruskin,  and  that 
is  enough. 

I  began  to  doubt  the  good  faith  of  Mr.  Rid- 
dle when  I  next  discovered  a  letter  to  him 
written  by  John  Stuart  Mill,  which  is  prac- 
tically sensible  enough.  Mr.  Riddle  is  now 
concerned  about  questions  of  political  economy 
and  not  about  delivering  lectures. 

BLACKHEATH  PARK,  KENT. 

Oct.  29,  1870. 
DEAR  SIR: 

No  question  can  be  greater  or  more  urgent  than 
that  of  the  relations  of  the  poor  to  the  rich,  and  though 
for  the  rectification  of  those  relations  political  and 
social  reforms  are  the  principal  requisite,  I  am  quite 
prepared  to  admit  that  "practical  engineering  meas- 
ures" may  be  highly  useful  auxiliaries.  But  of  this 
part  of  the  subject  I  cannot  deem  myself  a  competent 
judge;  though  I  should  be  very  willing,  when  I  know 
your  proposals,  to  tell  you  whether,  in  my  opinion, 
there  are  any  objections  to  them  on  the  score  of  po- 
litical economy. 

I  am,  Dear  Sir, 

Yours  very  faithfully — 

W.  RIDDLE  ESQ.  J.  S.  MILL 


First  page  of  A.  L.  S.  (3  pages)  of  John  Ruskin  to  William  Riddle,  undated 


SHaries  177 

That  Mr..  Riddle  was  less  of  a  lecturer  or 
a  political-economist  than  a  skilful  suppliant 
for  autographs,  is  further  commended  to  my 
belief  by  this  letter  which  he  elicited  from 
Charles  Dickens : 

OFFICE  OF  ALL  THE  YEAR  ROUND. 

No.  26  WELLINGTON  STREET,  STRAND. 

LONDON  W.  C.     Friday  The  Ninth. 

November,  1866. 
DEAR  SIR: 

I  have  read  your  little  daughter's  story.  I  do  not 
understand  whether  or  not  you  suppose  it  to  have 
any  claim  to  publication,  or  any  address  to  general 
readers.  If  you  do,  I  think  you  are  altogether  mis- 
taken. 

Regarded  as  the  production  of  a  very  clever  child, 
it  is  interesting  and  curious.  But  the  working  of 
children's  minds,  when  watched,  is  always  so.  I  have 
certainly  known  other  children  to  write  as  well,  and 
to  display  more  fancy,  who  had  no  faculty  whatever 
of  authorship  in  them  as  they  grew  older.  If  the 
case  was  mine,  I  would  show  just  the  same  playful 
interest  in  this  effort  of  childish  invention  as  in  any 
other  more  usual  one;  I  would  on  no  consideration 
lead  the  child  to  think  that  I  regarded  it  as  very 
exceptional;  and  I  would  quietly  observe  (taking 
some  years  for  the  purpose)  whether  it  developed 
or  died  out. 

Faithfully  yours, 

CHARLES  DICKENS 
WILLIAM  RIDDLE  ESQUIRE 


178    IRambles  In  Hutograpb  Xanfc 

He  also  worked  the  familiar  game  on 
Richard  Cobden,  who  sent  him  this  letter, 
directed  to  "  Wm.  Riddle,  South  Lambeth,  S:" 

ATHENAEUM  CLUB,  27  July,  1864. 
SIR:— 

There  is  a  volume  published  in  Ludgate  St.  called, 
I  think,  "  Men  of  the  Time"  or  some  such  title  which 
contains  some  dates  and  facts  of  my  career  in  public 
life,  which  are  correct.  I  know  no  other  work  to 
which  I  could  refer,  apart  from  the  general  records 
of  the  political  events  of  the  day. 

I  am  your  obedt  servt, 

R.  COBDEN 
WM.  RIDDLE  ESQ. 

After  all  this,  one  cannot  help  feeling  sorry 
that  Ruskin  did  not  hurt  him  even  more  than 
he  thought  he  did ;  but  it  is  quite  pleasant  to 
observe  these  men  of  high  fame  and  engross- 
ing mental  occupations,  cheerfully  giving 
information  and  advice  to  a  stranger  who 
appears  to  have  solicited  it  without  any  right 
to  ask  it.  Perhaps,  after  all,  I  have  mis- 
judged Mr.  Riddle,  for  I  am  judging  him 
merely  by  the  circumstantial  evidence. 


CHAPTER  X 

SOME  NINETEENTH-CENTURY  WRITERS 

Nineteenth-Century  Writers — De  Quincey — His  Letter  to  His 
Solicitor — Carlyle  on  De  Quincey — Carlyle  Letter  to  Mrs. 
Carlyle — Thackeray  to  Ainsworth — Thackeray  to  Fraser — 
Dickens's  Letter  on  the  Staplehurst  Railway  Disaster — 
Shirley  Brooks — Brooks  to  Artemus  Ward — Henry  Thomas 
Buckle — Locker-Lampson. 

IT  is  always  a  surprise  to  the  elderly  person 
to  find  that  the  great  literary  reputations  of 
his  early  days  are  becoming  antiquated.  It 
seems  but  a  little  while  ago  when  Carlyle,  De 
Quincey,  and  Leigh  Hunt  were  very  modern 
names,  while  now  they  appear  to  belong  to  a 
fairly  remote  past.  My  publisher  friend 
would  doubtless  regard  their  works  as  having 
"no  commercial  value,"  unless  as  examples  of 
the  bygone  in  books  and  for  some  associations 
connected  with  them.  Whether  the  change 

in  the  whole  character  of  English  literature 

179 


i8o    IRambles  in  Hutograpfo 


in  the  last  thirty  years  has  been  for  the  better, 
it  would  be  presumptuous  to  venture  an 
assertion  ;  and  the  opinion  of  a,  sexagenarian 
on  such  a  subject  is  of  little  value  in  these 
progressive  days.  The  tastes  of  readers  as 
well  as  the  style  of  writers  change  radically 
in  times  of  fierce  activities.  Still,  the  early 
twentieth  century  is  not  more  at  variance  with 
the  middle  nineteenth  than  the  early  nine- 
teenth was  with  the  eighteenth.  It  must  be 
remembered  also  that  while  the  multitude, 
whose  approval  gives  the  "commercial  value" 
to  the  products  of  the  publishers,  and  whose 
preferences  are  noised  abroad  if  not  in  part 
created  by  the  newspaper  press,  may  have 
forgotten  the  old  favourites,  there  is  a  goodly 
number  of  readers  who  are  fond  of  something 
besides  fiction  and  the  popular  novelties;  and 
although  even  with  them  the  amiable  Hunt  is 
now  chiefly  a  pleasant  memory,  the  best  of  De 
Quincey  and  most  of  Carlyle  endure  in  favour. 
Naturally  I  am  speaking  of  my  own  country, 
for  no  American,  unless  it  may  be  Mr.  George 
W.  Smalley,  would  dare  to  utter  any  views  in 
regard  to  literary  conditions  in  England. 


Some  IRineteentlxientune  Writers  181 

There  is  always  an  element  of  fascination 
about  De  Quincey  due  to  his  peculiar  person- 
ality. He  was  a  strange  creature,  ever  on 
the  point  of  doing  something  great  but  never 
accomplishing  it.  I  have  quite  a  number  of 
his  letters,  from  which  I  select  only  one ;  rather 
a  long  one,  it  is  true,  but  in  his  small,  distinct, 
and  legible  handwriting  it  fills  only  four  pages 

of  ordinary  note  paper.     It  displays  the  dif- 

. 

fuseness,  the  needless  propensity  to  elaborate 
every  thought,  the  protracted  efforts  to  reach 
a  definite  point,  which  characterise  all  his 
writings.  He  could  have  said  to  his  negli- 
gent agent  all  that  was  necessary  in  a  fourth  of 
the  space  he  occupied.  He  stopped  only  at 
the  end  of  the  last  page  of  his  paper,  and  if  the 
sheet  had  been  folio  he  would  have  filled  it 
to  the  very  close.  The  letter  is  severe  on  the 
lawyer,  who  was  manifestly  slow,  but  lawyers 
are  apt  to  be  dilatory  about  matters  which 
seem  to  them  not  to  be  very  pressing.  It 
indicates  some  of  the  miseries  of  having  liter- 
ary clients — their  prolixity,  the  queer  mean- 
derings  of  their  minds,  their  impatience,  their 
lack  of  sound  business  sense.  We  must  admit 


1 82    IRambles  in  Hutograpb  ILanb 

however  that  the  solicitor  was  somewhat 
remiss  in  this  instance,  but  then  we  do  not 
know  his  side  of  the  story,  and  one  may  not 
rely  implicitly  on  De  Quincey's  statements  of 
fact  about  any  subject.  He  often  saw  things 
through  the  mists  of  opium  and  they  lead  to 
exaggeration. 

Monday  Evening,  July  17,  1837. 
MY  DEAR  SIR: — 

On  Friday  last  I  wrote  a  note  to  you  containing 
three  distinct  questions.  I  had  in  return  a  verbal 
message  to  this  effect — that  you  were  too  much 
fatigued  by  your  journey  from  the  South  to  reply 
at  that  time,  but  that  you  would  take  an  early 
opportunity  of  doing  so.  Three  days  have  since 
elapsed:  and  no  answer  having  arrived,  I  am  com- 
pelled to  write  again  most  urgently  on  the  same 
subject. 

My  questions  are  in  substance  these : — 

1.  What  steps  have  you  taken,  or  are  you  taking 
with  regard  to  the  loan  upon  the  reversion? 

2.  What  is  the  precise  situation  of  the  Guarantee 
fund?    That  is  to  say,  is  that  fund  detained  as  a 
guarantee  to  yourself  by  way  of  indemnification  for 
security  given  by  you  to  the  Caledonian — or  as  a 
guarantee  directly  to  the  Caledonian? 

3.  I  have  [upon  grounds  stated  in  my  last  note] 
a  claim  on  the  Caledonian  for  £16 — 13 — 4.     Now 
this  sum,  trifling  as  it  may  seem,  has  unfortunately 
become  of  importance  to  me,  exhausted  as  I  am  by 


6Le2 


Thomas  De  Quincey 


Some  TOneteentiMTenturs  THflriters  183 

the  endless  delays  in  these  loan  negociations.  What 
then  is  my  proper  course  for  recovering  it? 

These  are  my  three  questions:  to  the  first  only  my 
eldest  son  received  on  Saturday  a  verbal  answer, 
viz:  "that  you  strongly  advised  me  not  to  borrow." 
Now  this  is  perplexing  to  me :  my  application  to  your- 
self never  was  for  advice — as  upon  the  general  question 
of  borrowing  or  not  borrowing  [that  was  not  in  my 
choice]  but  for  your  practical  aid  in  effecting  the  loan. 
Then,  as  to  the  particular  advice,  how  is  that  re- 
concileable  with  your  previous  letters  and  acts — all 
implying  the  very  opposite  advice?  Or,  supposing 
it  were  reconcileable,  and  taking  it  separately  upon 
its  own  merits,  by  what  arguments  do  you  justify 
such  an  advice?  Why  should  my  reversion  afford 
a  less  eligible  basis  for  a  loan  than  the  reversions  of 
other  people? 

Finally  let  me  say  that  you  seem  most  inadequately 
to  appreciate  either  my  conduct  or  my  present  situa- 
tion. 

First,  with  regard  to  my  situation  [all  caused  by  the 
lingering  course  of  the  negociations  for  the  loan],  let 
me  rehearse  a  few  of  its  leading  points — a  family  in 
Cumberland  sold  up  and  effectually  ruined;  their 
credit  having  now  been  irreparably  blighted;  myself 
hunted  in  every  direction  by  writs  and  diligences; 
two  decrees  already  issued  against  me,  and  execution 
rapidly  approaching;  others  daily  threatened  with 
insolent  clamors  at  my  door; — finally,  from  mere 
grief  and  agitation  of  mind  at  witnessing  these  ruinous 
consequences  of  delay,  sickness  now  making  ravages 
in  one  member  of  my  family  such  as  I  do  not  wish  to 
speak  of  or  to  think  of;  but  the  fact  you  may  as- 


184    "Rambles  in  Hutoarapb  Xanfc 

certain  from  Major  Miller.  Will  it  be  denied — that 
any  agent  of  reasonable  activity  armed  with  the 
power  contained  under  my  uncle's  will,  might  have 
averted  these  heavy  calamities? 

Well,  such  being  my  situation,  secondly  what  has 
been  my  conduct?  Take  one  fact  in  illustration  of 
it — viz.  the  fact  of  my  extreme  delicacy  in  neither 
making,  nor  allowing  to  be  made,  any  application 
to  the  Caledonian  office  for  the  information  wanted. 
In  that  way  I  could  have  obtained  all  I  sought;  and 
in  the  most  authentic  shape.  Yet,  because  such  a 
course  seemed  liable  to  the  construction  that  I  did 
not  repose  confidence  in  you,  I  abstained  from  it; 
and  that  too  after  all  applications  to  yourself  had 
proved  fruitless.  Nay,  to  such  an  excess  did  I  carry 
this  delicacy — a  delicacy  which  you  seem  so  little 
to  have  appreciated, — that  even  after  your  abrupt 
departure  to  London  without  even  a  message  left 
for  me,  had  made  an  almost  open  avowal  that  you 
did  not  think  my  affairs  worthy  of  any  attention, 
and  had  thus  cancelled  any  claim  which  the  most 
sensitively  honest  person  could  fancy  to  a  further 
continuance  of  such  delicacy,  even  then — [and  solely 
upon  this  consideration  that  such  a  step  would  convey 
to  the  Caledonian  an  expression  of  distrust  towards 
yourself] — and  (in  the  midst  of  my  intense  and  surely 
most  natural  desire  to  know  the  real  situation  of  my 
affairs)  would  not  apply  to  that  office. 

Surely  you  will  perceive  in  all  this,  as  well  as  in  my 
steadfast  forbearance  to  put  any  the  very  slightest 
question  to  your  clerks  during  your  absence,  conduct 
the  most  honorable  and  considerate  towards  your- 
self; and  that  too  under  the  most  trying  perplexities 


-to 


— 


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Last  page  of  A.  L.  S.  (4  pages)  of  Thomas  De  Quincey,  July  17,  1837 


Some  fUneteentb*Centun>  THUriters  185 

or  even  calamities  which  I  believed  you  to  have  been 
capable  of  averting  had  you  chosen  to  exert  your- 
self. To  such  conduct  on  my  part  I  cannot  suppose 
that  you  will  any  longer  delay  to  make  a  corresponding 
return;  if  not  by  any  practical  services  of  the  kind 
which  I  had  once  anticipated,  at  all  events  by  giving 
me  the  information  which  I  have  so  earnestly  sought 
from  you. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

T.  DE  QUINCEY 


We  are  told  that  De  Quincey  was  utterly 
unable  to  take  his  affairs  firmly  in  hand  and 
deal  with  them,  but  he  seems  to  have  under- 
stood fully  the  subject  of  the  loan  on  the 
reversion.  Mr.  Hogg  says:  "During  my  edi- 
torship of  Titan  .  .  .  De  Quincey  often  as- 
tonished me  by  his  shrewdness  in  the  affairs 
of  everyday  life."  I  think  that  his  strange 
ways  in  matters  financial  about  which  so 
many  tales  are  related  were  due  less  to  in- 
capacity than  to  indifference. 

De  Quincey  was,  after  a  fashion,  liked  by 
Carlyle,  who  privately  abused  him  less  than 
he  did  most  people  who  were  unfortunate 
enough  to  meet  him.  Yet  T.  C.  wrote  of  his 
friend  in  the  Reminiscences  in  that  exasper- 


1 86    "Rambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanb 

ating  manner  of  his  which  makes  me  long  to 
tell  him  what  an  absurdly  conceited,  cross- 
grained  old  curmudgeon  he  was.  I  quote  : 

He  was  a  pretty  little  creature,  full  of  wire-drawn 
ingenuities,  bankrupt  enthusiasms,  bankrupt  pride, 
with  the  finest  silver-toned  low  voice,  and  most 
elaborate  gently-winding  courtesies  and  ingenuities 
in  conversation.  "What  would  n't  one  give  to  have 
him  in  a  box,  and  take  him  out  to  talk!"  That  was 
Her  criticism  of  him,  and  it  was  right  good.  A  bright, 
ready  and  melodious  talker,  but  in  the  end  inconclu- 
sive and  long-winded. 

The  old  boor  seems  to  have  thought  that 
he  could  make  amends  for  his  boorishness  by 
writing  "her"  with  a  capital  H.  Mrs.  Car- 
lyle  showed  her  goodness  of  heart,  for  she 
nursed  the  Opium  Eater  through  a  long  illness 
— at  her  own  home,  I  believe — and  De  Quincey 
said  of  her,  "  She  was,  indeed,  the  most  angelic 
woman  I  ever  met  upon  this — God's  earth." 
The  story  of  Carlyle  and  his  wife  has  been 
told  over  and  over  again,  and  in  so  many 
different  ways  that  it  has  become  quite  weari- 
some. The  subject  has  been  talked  out  and 
written  out,  people  have  quarrelled  fiercely 


/       •  C^UT-lL 


Thomas  Carlyle 


Some  1FUneteentI>Centur£  Udriters  187 

over  it  in  books  and  pamphlets,  volumes  have 
been  filled  with  it.  The  case  was  evidently 
that  of  two  people  of  genius,  with  all  the  irri- 
tability of  genius — especially  Carlyle — having 
no  children  to  occupy  their  attention  and  draw 
them  out  of  themselves;  both  Scotch,  who 
loved  and  squabbled,  squabbled  and  loved, 
and  talked  and  wrote  overmuch  about  their 
respective  infirmities.  I  always  try  to  keep 
myself  impartial  between  the  two,  but  even 
the  laborious  efforts  of  the  man's  warmest 
partisans  fail  to  convince  me  that  he  was  not 
a  sour,  selfish,  unbearable  person  with  an 
exaggerated  sense  of  his  own  importance. 
I  think  this  long  letter  of  Carlyle's  to  his  wife 
contains  some  evidence  of  his  characteristics. 
I  do  not  know  whether  it  has  ever  been  pub- 
lished and  I  am  too  indolent  to  search  for  it 
in  the  huge  mass  of  Carlyliana. 

SCOTSBRIG,  Friday  afternoon — 

DEAREST — 

A  thousand  thanks  for  your  excellent  little  letter. 
I  despaired  of  it  altogether  for  this  day:  but  there 
it  has  come  in,  from  the  pocket  of  Jamie,  and  done 
me  a  world  of  good.  Do  not,  pray,  do  not,  let  me 
want  for  a  pennyworth  so  long  as  I  am  far  from  you. 


1 88    IRamfcles  in  Hutoarapfo  Xanfc 

You  found,  hardly  decipherable,  on  a  sheet  hurried 
off  from  Ecclefechan  with  the  sea  still  jumbling  in 
my  ears,  and  all  chaos  in  my  heart, — some  notification 
that  I  had  come  hither;  that  I  had  found  vague  tid- 
ings of  my  mother  being  dangerously  ill  at  Dumfries. 
A  letter  written  yesterday  there,  to  Jack,  which  I 
expect  he  has  communciated  to  you,  will  explain  that 
matters  stood  considerably  better  than  we  appre- 
hended. My  mother  had  had  a  really  bad  turn,  but 
was  now  out  of  danger  and  daily  growing  better.  Our 
cattle  and  modes  of  conveyance  here  are  what  you 
know,  or  even  worse.  Nevertheless  having  once 
ascertained  that  my  mother  was  out  of  danger,  the 
next  project  was  to  drive  up  the  old  dilapidated  lumber 
of  a  gig,  with  one  of  Austin's  plough-horses  in  it, 
next  day  (that  was,  yesterday)  and  surprise  your 
mother  at  Breakfast.  The  remembrance  of  our  last 
feat  in  that  way,  however,  rather  moderated  my 
enthusiasm ;  and  the  day  breaking  up  to  be  the  warm- 
est and  finest  yet  seen  this  season,  and  as  if  made  on 
purpose  for  getting  my  mother  home,  I  gave  up 
Templand  for  that  time,  and  bending  all  my  indus- 
tries hitherward,  happily  tho'  wearisomely  got  the 
thing  accomplished;  and  here  the  poor  mother  is, 
already  greatly  comforted,  quieted,  and  not  much 
worse  than  her  wont.  You  can  tell  Jack :  we  did  not 
need  a  chaise;  we  drove  in  the  gig,  and  even  took 
Gill  and  Ecclefechan  by  the  way, — against  my  advice, 
but  according  to  her  earnest  express  desire.  The 
sun  shone  all  the  way,  and  no  wind  blew  except  a 
breath  from  the  west.  To-day  such  an  enterprise 
would  not  have  been  possible. 

As  for  me,  I  am  washed  all  to  rags;  with  one  wish 


eJk 


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,  (rf    n^  ^tvl   K 


First  page  of  A.  L.  S.  (12  pages)  of  Thomas  Carlyle  to  his  wife,  undated  but  April,  1841 


'  t 

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Last  page  of  A.  L.  S.  (12  pages)  of  Thomas  Carlyle  to  his  wife,  undated  but 

April,  1841 


Some  TOneteentb*Centurs  Writers  189 

left,  that  all  mortals  would  let  me  entirely  alone; — 
my  Goody's  letters  are  a  decided  exception:  alas, 
I  think  her  black  eyes  looking  on  me  would  be  so 
beneficial;  and  yet  do  I  not  know  how  the  spirit  is 
willing  and  the  flesh  weak,  and  probably  even  she  is 
better  at  a  distance  from  me! 

The  question  when  I  am  coming  home,  the  only 
important  question,  I  do  not  answer  to-day.  I  will 
write  again  to-morrow.  I  have  some  thought  of 
going  by  Newcastle,  and  seeing  Miss  Martineau; 
but  I  know  not  the  days  of  the  steamers  yet.  I  mean 
to  sit  as  nearly  as  possible  altogether  silent  here. 
To  consider  what  I  wanted,  and  what  I  want !  Indeed, 
the  total  deficiency  of  eligible  locomotives,  except 
one's  feet,  gives  me  the  greatest  inducement  not  to 
stir.  .  .  . 

On  the  whole  I  rather  think  to  day  is  your  Sunday's 
post  at  London.  Alas,  yes  it  is;  Monday  morning, 
at  Chelsea,  no  possibility  of  a  letter.  I  need  not  send 
this  therefore  till  to  morrow !  Adieu,  Dear  good 
Jeannie ;  be  patient  with  me,  kind  to  me. 

Yours  ever, 

T.  C. 

Saturday  Noon — Your  second  letter  arrived  also 
yesternight,  again  a  most  welcome  messenger!  It 
lay  waiting  me  here,  brought  over  by  little  Jane,  as 
Jamie  and  I  returned  from  a  very  still  walk  in  the 
gloaming  to  Kirtlebridge  where  Jenny  lives,  whom 
we  had  found  in  the  neatest  of  kitchens  pacifically 
washing  her  youngest  child  under  the  blessed  dusk 
of  our  all-encircling  Heaven.  Poor  creatures,  after 
all. 

You  are  always  good  to  me,  dear  Goody,  best 


"Rambles  in  Hutograpb  %anb 


Goody!  Never  two  letters  have  done  me  more  good 
than  my  acquisition  for  a  week  past.  "Honble 
Mrs.  Marshall"  had  honourably  forwarded  the 
first,  franked  by  her  own  delicate  -hand.  What  a 
singular  demi-quavering  O  La  of  sweet  sensibility 
she  is.  I  will  explain  more  at  large  when  we  meet. 
Today  I  despatch  her  the  Dumfries  Courier  for 
thanks  and  a  sigh.  No  modified  arrangement  with 
any  such  concern  would  suit  me  the  least  in  the 
world  —  yet  if  they  had  asked  me  to  stay  till  Thursday 
I  would  cheerfully  have  done  it,  and  had  perhaps 
been  nearer  you  today.  —  The  invaluable  inclosures 
did  arrive  in  complete  safety,  much  to  the  admiration 
of  us  all.  It  is  strikingly  recognizable  ;  a  smart  little 
Goody  (well  worth  some  kisses,  one  would  say)  —  tho  ' 
there  is  something  too  pincerish  about  the  lips:  and 
the  expression  of  the  petit  nez  retrousse  is  visibly 
exaggerated.  Did  you  send  one  to  your  mother? 
Jack  has  despatched  two  of  himself  done  by  the  same 
artist;  the  primness  of  his  upper  lip,  an  occasional 
character  of  him,  is  stereotyped  there  in  a  very  con- 
spicuous manner;  but  perhaps  it  is  better  than  could 
be  expected.  Now  I  will  have  done  with  the  sunbeam 
too,  and  pay  for  it  in  hard  money;  wherefore  if  there 
be  any  good  reason  for  the  operation,  pray  set  about 
it,  and  have  the  thing  ready  for  me  when  I  arrive.  — 
By  the  way,  I  wrote  two  letters  to  Jack;  directed, 
the  first  of  them,  No  23  (which  was  wrong),  the 
second  of  them  (aright)  No  40,  Porchester  Terrace; 
perhaps  as  he  flies  so  thro  '  the  world  neither  of  them 
has  yet  got  to  hand. 

We  all  laughed  here  at  your  adventure  with  the 
serene  Ladyship  and  the  sticks;  I  read  that  narrative 


Some  mineteentfMTentur^  Writers  191 

for  the  general  benefit.  Proper,  to  give  that  high 
sailing  female  individual  as  good  as  she  brought. 
It  is  vain  for  the  like  of  her  to  come  down  to  No  5 — • 
thank  Heaven,  we  have  a  Goody  whom  no  gilt  sticks 
need  attempt  to  astonish;  who  sits,  deaf  as  Alsa  Crag, 
in  the  middle  of  all  such  charming.  Well;  what  can 
we  say  but  Allah  akbar,  Allah  kerim — the  all-wise 
great  Creator  makes  many  things,  and  has  a  certain 
never-failing  mercy  for  them  all !  .  .  . 

Here  at  Scotsbrig,  this  day,  things  go  somewhat 
better,  with  me  at  least,  than  yesterday.  My  mother 
too,  tho'  she  continues  very  weakly  seems  not  to  be 
worse,  tho '  they  have  kept  her  close  in  bed  this  morn- 
ing, the  grey  damp  east-wind  being  far  from  genial. 
She  is  much  quieter  in  mind,  here  in  her  own  place; 
that  sunny  day  was  a  lucky  one  for  us  to  get  her 
hither.  Irabdea,  really  a  discreet,  delicate-minded 
woman,  waits  on  us  all  with  endless  assiduity;  an  air 
of  order  and  decorum,  looking  thro'  never  such 
imperfection  of  equipment,  is  blessed  and  welcome 
to  one.  My  shoes  are  polished  (for  example)  into 
the  express  similitude  of  bright  chivalry  iron  shoes; 
I  dress  in  the  other  end  room,  where  a  toilet  is  spread 
with  mathematical  regularity,  an  abundant  warm 
soft  water  is  a  real  luxury  to  wash  in.  Best  of  all, 
I  slept  this  morning  till  8,  I  have  had  an  hour  added 
daily  since  I  came,  and  am  now  got  to  this  to  day, 
in  fact,  I  feel  very  considerably  better.  Silence, 
blessed  silence!  Only  Willm  Graham  came  tumbling 
in,  yesterday  afternoon,  the  formidablest  bore  now 
living;  poor  fellow,  he  was  fast  putting  me  into  the 
bare  move,  when  I  gave  Jamie  his  signal  and  we  moved 
for  Kirtlebridge.  I  have  Herschell's  book  of  Natural 


192    1Ramble0  in  Hutograpb  Xant> 


Science,  very  wise,  dull,  and  commonplace;  fit  for 
a  case  like  mine.  Well  let  alone,  alas,  that  is  all  that 
the  wearied  soul  petitions  for  at  present.  .  .  . 

Annandale  is  largely  mixed  with'  melancholy  and 
chagrin  for  me;  yet  it  is  one's  native  soil, — 'impressive 
with  the  shadows  of  past  years;  sadder  sometimes, 
yet  with  a  composing  sadness,  than  Hades  itself 
need  be!  We  shall  see.  I  have  written  also  to  the 
Newcastle  people  to  say  what  are  the  times  of  their 
steamers.  Were  this  dull  rooted  headache  (fruit  of 
long  bilious  fret)  which  is  daily  fading  out,  once 
entirely  faded  I  should  be  readier  for  most  things. — • 
Adieu  dear  wifekin — I  do  love  thee,  know  that  always. 
Remember  me  to  Darwin  and  the  Whirlwind.  Tell 
John  to  compose  himself,  and  become  capable  of 
using  his  capabilities.  Poor  Helen  shall  make  me 
coffee  again  before  long.  Write  always.  Adieu. 

T.  CARLYLE 

Envelope  addressed 
MRS.  CARLYLE — 
5  Cheyne  Row,  Chelsea, 

London. 

P.  O.  mark  on  back — April  24,  1841. 

Thackeray  letters  are  always  in  demand  and 
appear  to  increase  in  pecuniary  value,  even 
more  than  those  of  Dickens ;  possibly  because 
Dickens  wrote  more  letters  and  the  supply  is 
abundant.  One  of  my  Thackeray  letters  is 
particularly  valuable  to  me  because  it  con- 
tains examples  of  both  of  his  styles  of  hand- 


William  Makepeace  Thackeray 


Some  mineteentfxienturp  Hdriters  193 

writing,  the  upright  and  the  slanting,  and  also 
because  it  was  written  to  Ainsworth,  whom  he 
was  always  depreciating  and  of  whom  he  said 
and  wrote  disparaging  and  ill-natured  things, 
as  Mr.  S.  M.  Ellis  points  out  in  his  excellent 
and  interesting  book,  William  Harrison  Ains- 
worth and  His  Friends,  published  in  1911. 
Whatever  may  be  their  respective  merits  as 
authors,  Dickens  had  a  more  generous  and 
lovable  disposition  than  his  mighty  compeer. 
Ainsworth  firmly  believed  that  both  of  them 
were  his  friends  but  Dickens  never  ridiculed 
him  behind  his  back.  In  this  letter  Thackeray 
is  referring  to  his  lectures  on  "The  Four 
Georges." 

36  ONSLOW  D,  Jany  13,  1857. 
MY  DEAR  AINSWORTH — 

You  '11  think  this  correspondence  is  never  a  going 
to  stop — and  laugh  when  I  tell  you  that  here  's 
another  put  off! — only  from  5  to  6:30  however,  and 
I  '11  tell  you  why.  Yesterday  after  my  letter  to  you 
was  despatched  Mr.  Beale  came  to  me  for  4  lectures 
at  Brighton  to  be  paid  at  the  extremely  moderate 
figure  of  50  guineas  per  lecture  (this  is  between  our- 
selves). The  only  days  we  could  give  them  are 
Wednesday,  Thursday,  Friday  24th  at  3  o'clock, 
and  I  shall  have  to  speak  again  in  the  evening  here. 
Now  this  is  the  plan  of  campaign.  We  start  from 
13 


194    "Rambles  in  Butograpfo  lanfc 

Brighton  by  the  5  o'clock  train.  My  servant  is  in 
waiting  at  the  station  to  take  our  luggage.  My 
(jobbed)  Brougham  whisks  us  off  to  Painters,  Ship 
and  Turtle,  Leadenhall  St.,  where  a  n'eat  dinner  awaits 
us,  a  bottle  of  East  India  particular  and  one  of  Claret. 
At  7.30  the  Brougham  takes  us  to  Edward  St.,  and 
at  9.25  whither  we  like  first,  and  then  home  to  this 
house  where  we  all  insist  you  must  stop  and  sleep. 
And  so  for  the  present  farewell,  old  friend.  Who 
knows  there  may  be  ANOTHER  letter  yet?  The  Brigh- 
ton room  may  be  engaged  &c.  &c.  About  these 
matters  due  notice  shall  be  given,  but  on  Saturday 
and  Sunday  24-25,  please  the  Lord,  you  dine  with 

Yours  always, 

W.  M.  THACKERAY 

I  find  I  write  upright  with  the  steel  pen,  slanting 
with  the  quill. 

Yet  to  this  "old  friend,"  Thackeray  was 
always  unjust,  according  to  Blanchard  Jerrold, 
who  adds:  "He  caricatured  him  unmercifully 
in  Punch,  and  never  lost  an  opportunity  of 
being  amusing  at  his  expense." 

Another  letter  of  Thackeray  was  written 
to  Fraser,  the  publisher,  in  regard  to  his  con- 
tributions to  Fraser' s  Magazine  for  1839 
which  were  afterwards  reprinted  under  the 
title  of  The  Paris  Sketch  Book.  The  "im- 
promptu" is  not  strikingly  brilliant. 


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First  page  of  A.  L.  S.  of  William  Makepeace  Thackeray  to  William  Harrison  Ainsworth, 

January  13,  1857 


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Last  page  of  A.  L.  S.  of  William  Makepeace  Thackeray  to  William  Harrison  Ainsworth, 

January  13,  1857 


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A.  L.  S.  of  William  Makepeace  Thackeray  to  James  Fraser,  July  i  [1833! 


Some  1Rineteentfxlentun>  THHriters  195 

19  GT.  CORAM  ST.  i  July,  [1839] 
DEAR  FRASER: 

Do  make  up  my  account  now  directly,  if  you  owe 
me  so  much  the  better — I  am  hard  up  and  want  money, 
if  you  don't,  so  much  the  better  too,  for  you  that  is, 
and  I  shall  know  where  I  am. 

Sempiternally  yours, 

W.  M.  THACKERAY 
Impromptu 

In  case  you  owe  send  what  you  owe 
In  case  you  dont,  dont  send  you  know. 

The  letters  of  Dickens,  generally  written 
in  his  favourite  blue  ink,  are  marked  by  much 
frank  bonhomie  and  bear  no  evidence  of  la- 
boured effort  to  be  striking  or  amusing,  while 
Thackeray,  to  me  at  least,  seems  to  be  ever 
mindful  of  the  fact  that  he  is  "Mr.  Thackeray, 
the  celebrated  novelist."  One  of  them,  which 
is  among  my  pets,  is  not  unfamiliar  and  it  was 
printed  in  The  Letters  of  Charles  Dickens  (ii., 
229-231),  but  parts  of  it  are  omitted  in  the 
published  version.  It  is  a  graphic  account 
of  the  terrible  railway  accident  which  occurred 
on  June  9,  1865,  at  Staplehurst,  a  few  miles 
south  of  Maidstone,  due  to  negligence  on  the 
part  of  an  employee.  It  was  written  to  his 
old  school-friend,  Thomas  Mitton. 


196    IRambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanfc 

GAD'S  HILL  PLACE — HICHAM  BY  ROCHESTE  R,  KENT — 
Tuesday  thirteenth  June,  1865 — 

MY  DEAR  MITTON, — I  should  have  written  to  you 
yesterday  or  the  day  before,  if  I  had  been  quite  up 
to  writing.  I  am  a  little  shaken,  not  by  the  beating 
and  dragging  of  the  carriage  in  which  I  was,  but  by 
the  hard  work  afterwards  in  getting  out  the  dying 
and  dead,  which  was  most  horrible. 

I  was  in  the  only  carriage  that  did  not  go  over  into 
the  stream.  It  was  caught  upon  the  turn  by  some 
of  the  ruin  of  the  bridge,  and  hung  suspended  and 
balanced  in  an  apparently  impossible  manner.  Two 
ladies  were  my  fellow-passengers,  an  old  one  and  a 
young  one.  This  is  exactly  what  passed: — you  may 
judge  from  it  the  precise  length  of  the  suspense. 
Suddenly  we  were  off  the  rail  and  beating  the  ground 
as  the  car  of  a  half  emptied  balloon  might.  The 
old  lady  cried  out  "My  God!"  and  the  young  one 
screamed.  I  caught  hold  of  them  both  (the  old 
lady  sat  opposite,  and  the  young  one  on  my  left) ,  and 
said:  "We  can't  help  ourselves,  but  we  can  be  quiet 
and  composed.  Pray  don't  cry  out."  The  old  lady 
immediately  answered,  "Thank  you.  Rely  upon 
me.  Upon  my  soul,  I  will  be  quiet."  The  young 
lady  said  in  a  frantic  way,  "Let  us  join  hands  and 
die  friends."  We  were  then  all  tilted  down  together 
in  a  corner  of  the  carriage,  and  stopped.  I  said  to 
them  thereupon:  "You  may  be  sure  nothing  worse 
can  happen.  Our  danger  must  be  over.  Will  you 
remain  here  without  stirring,  while  I  get  out  of  the 
window?"  They  both  answered  quite  collectedly, 
"Yes,"  and  I  got  out  without  the  least  notion  what 
had  happened.  Fortunately  I  got  out  with  great 


: 


-  v: 


Charles  Dickens 

From  the  etching  by  Hollyer 


(Sate  $itt  fl 
giigftam 


First  page  of  A.  L.  S.  (4  pages)  of  Charles  Dickens  to  Thomas  Mitton,  June  13,  1865 


Some  TOneteentMEentur^  Hdritera  197 

caution  and  stood  upon  the  step.  Looking  down, 
I  saw  the  bridge  gone  and  nothing  below  me  but  the 
line  of  rail.  Some  people  in  the  two  other  compart- 
ments were  madly  trying  to  plunge  out  at  window, 
and  had  no  idea  that  there  was  an  open  swampy 
field  15  feet  down  below  them  and  nothing  else! 
The  two  guards  (one  with  his  face  cut)  were  running 
up  and  down  on  the  down  side  of  the  bridge  (which 
was  not  torn  up)  quite  wildly.  I  called  out  to  them 
"  Look  at  me.  Do  stop  an  instant  and  look  at  me,  and 
tell  me  whether  you  don't  know  me."  One  of  them 
answered  "We  know  you  very  well,  Mr.  Dickens." 
"Then"  I  said  "my  good  fellow  for  God's  sake  give 
me  your  key,  and  send  one  of  those  labourers  here, 
and  I  '11  empty  this  carriage" — We  did  it  quite 
safely,  by  means  of  a  plank  or  two  and  when  it  was 
done  I  saw  all  the  rest  of  the  train  except  the  two 
baggage  cars,  down  in  the  stream.  I  got  into  the 
carriage  again  for  my  brandy  flask,  took  off  my  trav- 
elling hat  for  a  basin,  climbed  down  the  brickwork, 
and  filled  my  hat  with  water.  Suddenly  I  came  upon 
a  staggering  man  covered  with  blood  (I  think  he 
must  have  been  flung  clean  out  of  his  carriage)  with 
such  a  frightful  cut  across  the  skull  that  I  could  n't 
bear  to  look  at  him.  I  poured  some  water  over  his 
face,  and  gave  him  some  to  drink,  and  gave  him  some 
brandy,  and  laid  him  down  on  the  grass,  and  he  said 
"I  am  gone"  and  died  afterwards.  Then  I  stumbled 
over  a  lady  lying  on  her  back  against  a  little  pollard 
tree,  with  the  blood  streaming  over  her  face  (which 
was  lead  color)  in  a  number  of  distinct  little  streams 
from  the  head.  I  asked  her  if  she  could  swallow 
a  little  brandy,  and  she  just  nodded,  and  I  gave  her 


198    Gambles  in  autograpb  Xanfc 

some  and  left  her  for  somebody  else.  The  next  time 
I  passed  her,  she  was  dead.  Then  a  man  examined 
at  the  Inquest  yesterday  (who  evidently  had  not  the 
least  remembrance  of  what  really'  passed)  came 
running  up  to  me  and  implored  me  to  help  him  find 
his  wife,  who  was  afterwards  found  dead.  No  imagi- 
nation can  conceive  the  ruin  of  the  carriages,  or  the 
extraordinary  weights  under  which  the  people  were 
lying,  or  the  complications  into  which  they  were 
twisted  up  among  iron  and  wood,  and  mud  and 
water. 

I  don't  want  to  be  examined  at  the  Inquest,  and 
I  don't  want  to  write  about  it.  It  could  do  no  good 
either  way,  and  I  could  only  seem  to  speak  about 
myself,  which  of  course  I  would  rather  not  do.  I  am 
keeping  very  quiet  here.  I  have  a — I  don't  know 
what  to  call  it — constitutional  (I  suppose)  presence 
of  mind,  and  was  not  in  the  least  fluttered  at  the 
time.  I  instantly  remembered  that  I  had  the  Ms. 
of  a  N0>  with  me,  and  clambered  back  into  the  carriage 
for  it.  But  in  writing  these  scanty  words  of  recol- 
lection I  feel  the  shake  and  am  obliged  to  stop. 

Ever  faithfully, 
C.  D. 

Dickens  received  no  injury,  but  he  never 
recovered  from  the  nervous  shock  and  often 
referred  in  later  years  to  the  effect  upon  his 
system.  Every  Dickens  lover  will  remember 
what  he  says  of  it  in  the  postscript  to  Our 
Mutual  Friend: 


Some  TOneteentfXIentun)  TOriters  199 

On  Friday  the  Ninth  of  June  in  the  present  year, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Boffin  (in  their  manuscript  dress  of 
receiving  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lammle  at  breakfast)  were 
on  the  South-Eastern  Railway  with  me,  in  a  terri- 
bly destructive  accident.  When  I  had  done  what  I 
could  to  help  others,  I  climbed  back  into  my  carriage — 
nearly  turned  over  a  viaduct ;  and  caught  aslant  upon 
the  turn — to  extricate  the  worthy  couple.  They  were 
much  soiled,  but  otherwise  unhurt.  The  same  happy 
result  attended  Miss  Bella  Wilfer  on  her  wedding 
day,  and  Mr.  Riderhood  inspecting  Bradley  Head- 
stone's red  neckerchief  as  he  lay  asleep.  I  remember 
with  devout  thankfulness  that  I  can  never  be  much 
nearer  parting  company  with  my  readers  for  ever, 
than  I  was  then,  until  there  shall  be  written  against 
my  life  the  two  words  with  which  I  have  this  day 
closed  this  book:— THE  END." 

Strangely  enough  the  postscript  quoted 
was  criticised  with  severity.  In  the  West- 
minster Review  of  April,  1866,  it  was  dealt 
with  in  this  savage  fashion: 

We  believe  that  all  England  would  have  been 
deeply  shocked  had  Mr.  Dickens  been  killed  in  the 
Staplehurst  accident.  But  many  minds  will  be 
equally  shocked  by  the  melodramatic  way  in  which 
he  speaks  of  his  escape.  Those  who  are  curious  to 
understand  the  tricks  of  his  style  should  analyse 
the  last  section.  He  first  endeavours  to  raise  a  joke 
about  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lammle,  "in  their  manuscript 
dress,"  and  his  other  fictitious  characters  being 


200    IRambles  in  Hutograpb  lanb 


rescued  from  the  railway  carriage,  and  then  turns 
off  to  moralise  and  improve  upon  his  own  escape, 
concluding  the  whole  with  a  theatrical  tag  about 
"The  End,"  which  refers  both  to  the1  conclusion  of 
the  book  and  his  life.  We  write  this  in  no  carping 
spirit,  but  because  it  so  fully  explains  to  us  the  cause 
of  Mr.  Dickens's  failures — a  want  of  sincerity,  and  a 
determination  to  raise  either  a  laugh  or  a  tear  at  the 
expense  of  the  most  sacred  of  things. 

The  mind  that  could  conceive  that  comment 
must  have  been  a  curious  one;  fancy  the 
mental  condition  of  a  man  who  was  as  much 
shocked  by  what  he  thought  a  blunder  in 
taste  as  by  the  sudden  and  violent  death  of  a 
fellow-creature! 

A  very  pleasant  book  is  the  Life  of  Shirley 
Brooks  by  G.  S.  Layard,  called  "A  Great 
Punch  Editor."  In  1856  "Shirley  was  now 
a  sufficiently  imposing  figure  in  the  literary 
world  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  autograph 
hunters,"  Mr.  Layard  informs  us,  and  he 
gives  a  letter  from  Horace  Mayhew  with  an 
endorsement  by  Brooks  in  which  the  latter 
remarks:  "What  would  the  world  give  for 
two  such  hautographs?"  In  the  Life  is 
quoted  this  to  a  Mr.  W.  H.  Doeg: 


Some  IWineteentb^Centurp  Writers  201 

THE  TEMPLE. 

Oct.  22nd,  1858. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

I  am  not  a  "distinguished  man"  but  the  distin- 
guished service  which  you  did  in  the  days  of  Saul, 
commemorated  in  the  i8th  verse  of  the  226.  chapter 
of  the  first  book  of  Samuel,  precludes  me  from  diso- 
beying your  desire. 

I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

SHIRLEY  BROOKS 
MR.  DOEG. 
Edom  &c.  &c. 


The  reference  is  to  Doeg  the  Edomite  who 
"  fell  upon  the  priests  and  slew  .  .  .  fourscore 
and  five  persons  that  did  wear  the  linen 
ephod."  Later,  it  seems,  attacks  from  auto- 
graph seekers  "became  something  of  a  nui- 
sance, but  he  could  never  find  it  in  his  heart 
to  refuse  their  flattering,  though  troublesome 
demands."  In  his  Diary  for  1871  Brooks 
made  an  entry  which  his  biographer  says 
"carries  a  wholesome  lesson  with  it": 


Somebody,  Algernon  0.  Simon,  London  University, 
no,  University  College,  writes  for  an  autograph,  but 
sends  no  envelope.  Told  him  he  owed  me  a  penny, 
and  was  to  pay  it  to  the  first  ragged  child  he  saw. 


202    "Rambles  in  Hutograpb  %ant> 

Layard  regards  this  as  "a  model  reply  to 
the  autograph  hunter": 

REGENT'S  PARK. 
Whit  Tuesday,  1864. 

SIR: 

I  am  happy  to  hear  that  I  have  so  many  good 
qualities,  as  you  assign  to  me,  and  I  am,  in  addition, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

SHIRLEY  BROOKS 
A.  VOGUE  Esq. 

One  of  my  letters  of  Brooks  is  addressed 
to  "Artemus  Ward  Esq."  which  the  editor 
evidently  thought  was  the  real  name  of  his 
new  contributor.  Mr.  Layard  tells  us  that 
"Ward"  was  one  of  the  eighteen  guests  "at 
Shirley's  hospitable  board"  on  New  Year's 
Eve,  1866, — seven  months  or  so  earlier  than  the 
date  of  this  letter, — and  proposed  the  health 
of  his  host  in  a  characteristic  speech;  but  this 
means  of  course  the  eve  of  New  Year,  1867, 
as  "Ward"  did  not  reach  England  until  June, 
1866.  The  letter  indicates  that  "Ward's" 
articles  were  at  first  not  quite  dull  enough  for 
Punch;  and  this  is  confirmed  by  what  Brooks 
wrote  to  Frith,  the  artist,  in  September,  1 866, 
saying,  "I  believe  he  [A.  WJ  sent  in  a  contribu- 


Some  1R!neteentb*Centun>  TKHriter0  203 

tion  on  some  topic  which  Mark  the  Large 
[Lemon]  thought  would  not  be  acceptable  to 
the  B.  P.  I  have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the 
series  will  be  discontinued.  But  I  don't  know, 
and  I  don't  care,  which  is  more."  But  later 
the  British  Public,  which  is  not  always  swift 
of  judgment  in  matters  of  humour,  "  caught  on 
to  "  Charles  Farrar  Browne,  who,  although  he, 
died  in  March,  1867,  won  a  fame  in  England 
which  almost  surpassed  that  which  he  enjoyed 
in  his  own  country. 

6  KENT  TERRACE  REGENT'S  PARK,  N.  W. 

Aug  27,  1866. 
MY  DEAR  SIR: 

I  have  not  had  (but  hope  for)  the  pleasure  of  making 
your  personal  acquaintance,  but  this  being  a  business 
communication  will  need  no  apology.  I  am  in  charge 
of  Punch  during  Mr.  Mark  Lemon's  absence  in  France, 
&  of  course  your  MS  came  to  me,  and  went  from  me 
to  the  printer.  Your  article  appears  in  the  new 
number — I  enclose  you  the  page,  and  the  publication 
itself  will  be  duly  forwarded.  If  it  suits  you  to  send 
in  "copy  "  by  Thursday,  there  will  be  time  for  you  to 
see  your  own  proofs.  I  may  just  mention  that  you 
will  see  a  word  or  two,  in  the  first  paragraph,  not 
exactly  as  in  M.  S.  an  alteration  made  necessary  by 
our  finding  it  expedient  never  to  kill  babies  out  & 
out  for  the  readers  of  Punch,  an  insular  weakness  for 
which  you  will  make  allowance.  I  expect  Mr.  Lemon 


204    IRambles  in  Hutograpb  %anb 


at  the  end  of  the  week,  and  I  shall  probably  have  the 
pleasure  of  calling  on  you  with  him. 

Believe  me,  my  dear  Sir, 

Yours  Very  truly, 

SHIRLEY  BROOKS. 
ARTEMUS  WARD  Esq. 

Buckle's  History  of  Civilisation  was  once 
much  talked  about,  but  its  fame  might  have 
been  more  enduring  if  he  had  written  it  in  a 
much  earlier  time  or  in  a  much  later  time. 
This  autobiographical  letter  is  of  interest 
chiefly  because  it  convicts  the  accurate  Sir 
Leslie  Stephen  of  a  slight  error  in  his  sketch  in 
the  Dictionary  of  National  Biography,  where 
the  date  of  Buckle's  birth  is  given  as  November 
24,  1821. 

LONDON,  30  April  1861 — 
59  OXFORD  TERRACE,  W. 

SIR— 

In  answer  to  your  letter,  I  beg  to  state  that  I  was 
born  on  24th  November  1822.  I  have  written  nothing 
except  the  first  volume  of  a  History  of  Civilization; 
an  Essay  on  the  Influence  of  Women;  and  an  Essay 
on  Liberty.  The  two  last  were  published  with  my 
name  in  Frasers  Magazine.  I  have  neither  appoint- 
ments nor  preferments;  nor  are  my  opinions  such  as 
to  make  it  probable  that  I  shall  obtain  any,  even 
supposing  that  I  wished  for  them.  My  father  was  a 
merchant  in  the  city  of  London.  My  mother  was 


Some  IRineteentfvCentun)  Writers  205 

a  Miss  Middleton  belonging  to  the  Yorkshire  family 
of  that  name. 

Should  you  require  further  information,  I  shall  be 
happy  to  supply  you  with  it. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be, 
Sir, 

Yours  obediently, 

HENRY  THOMAS  BUCKLE 

I  ought  perhaps  to  have  mentioned  that  the  Essay  on 
the  Influence  of  Women  was  originally  delivered  as 
a  Lecture  at  the  Royal  Institution  in  1858. 

This  letter  of  Frederick  Locker-Lampson 
is  given  because  it  supplies  a  new  idea  of  a 
device  to  check  the  collecting  habit  when  one 
is  conscious  that  it  is  becoming  oppressive. 

NEW  HAVEN  COURT. 

CROMER,  21  Sept. 
SIR— 

Thank  you  for  yr  letter  of  the  18.  I  printed  my 
Catalogue  to  make  an  end  of  my  collecting,  so  you 
see  it  wd  never  do  to  think  of  yr  proposal,  however 
much  I  might  be  tempted. 

Yrs, 
F.  L.  L. 

I  doubt  the  efficacy  of  the  remedy.  I  tried  it 
myself  once  and  it  failed  miserably.  The  printed 
list  only  made  me  see  more  clearly  the  gaps  in 
the  Collection.  But  it  was  a  good  excuse  for 
Lampson  to  get  rid  of  an  undesirable  applicant. 


CHAPTER  XI 

A  GROUP  OF  ENGLISH  STATESMEN 

Some  English  Statesmen — Cobden's  letter  to  W.  H.  Osborn — 
Bright's  letter  to  Greeley — Letters  of  Robert  Lowe,  Lord 
Sherbrooke — Sir  Stafford  Northcote  to  Cyrus  W.  Field — • 
Lord  Chancellors — Atlay's  Victorian  Chancellors — Eldon — 
Lyndhurst — Sugden  to  Brougham — Cranworth — Westbury 
— Campbell — Hatherly. 

Two  modern  English  statesmen  must  always 
be  especially  dear  to  Americans  with  mem- 
ories, for  they  were  our  friends  when  we  most 
needed  staunch  friendship  and  their  country- 
men— at  least  those  of  the  ruling  class — were 
by  no  means  favourably  disposed  towards  us. 
Richard  Cobden  and  John  Bright — I  call 
them  "modern,"  although  nothing  is  deemed 
to  be  modern  now  which  is  more  than  five 
years  old — were  champions  of  the  cause  against 
the  enemies  of  the  American  Union. 

Cobden,  the  great  Freetrader  and  anti-corn- 
206 


••••••••••I 

Richard  Cobden 
From  the  engraving  by  Hollyer  after  a  photograph  by  W.  &  D.  Downey 


a  (Broup  of  lEnglisb  Statesmen   207 

law  Radical,  was  such  an  admirer  of  the  United 
States  that  he  was  accused  of  scheming  to 
Americanise  English  institutions.  An  easy, 
accomplished,  and  convincing  speaker,  al- 
though not  an  orator  of  the  order  of  Bright 
and  Gladstone,  he  did  not  appeal  to  the 
passions  of  men  but  to  their  higher  and  nobler 
feelings.  He  knew  America  well  and  was 
fully  qualified  to  arrive  at  sound  opinions 
about  our  affairs.  Justin  McCarthy  says: 

In  the  time  of  the  Civil  War  his  whole  sympathy 
went  with  the  cause  of  the  North,  just  as  Palmerston's 
sympathies  went  with  the  cause  of  the  South,  but 
Cobden's  cool  judgment  was  never  likely  to  be  over- 
borne by  his  sympathies,  and  he  was  able  to  make 
quiet  comparison  of  the  forces  arrayed  on  either  side. 
Cobden  was  convinced  that  the  Federal  States  were 
destined  to  be  the  victors;  Palmerston  took  it  for 
granted  that  the  Federal  States  were  sure  to  be  the 
vanquished. 

Cobden  was  heartily  detested  by  the  old 
Conservatives,  who  thought  that  his  opinions 
were  destructive  and  revolutionary.  What 
would  they  now  think  of  Lloyd  George? 

This  letter,  written  by  Cobden  to  Mr.  W.  H. 
Osborn,  formerly  President  of  the  Illinois 


208    IRambles  in  Hutograpb  Xan& 

Central  Railroad,  was  given  to  me  by  that 
gentleman's  son,  Mr.  William  Church  Osborn. 
The  views  it  expresses  about  paper  money 
have  come  to  be  generally  accepted  but  it 
needed  a  long  campaign  of  education  to  con- 
vince the  American  voters  of  their  soundness. 

MIDHURST,  1 8  Feby.  1864. 
MY  DEAR  MR.  OSBORN — 

I  have  not  yet  been  to  London  to  take  my  seat  in 
the  House  this  session.  The  weather  is  cold,  night 
work  does  not  suit  me  at  this  season  of  the  year,  & 
there  is  nothing  particular  coming  on  early.  On  the 
whole,  I  have  passed  through  the  winter  very  well 
&  am  better  than  usual. 

Mr.  Cyrus  Field  writes  to  tell  me  that  he  is  the 
bearer  of  the  book  you  were  so  kind  as  to  send  for 
my  daughter  Nellie.  It  has  not  yet  reached  us,  but 
she  begs  me  to  thank  you  in  advance  for  what  she  is 
sure  is  a  beautiful  present. 

The  diplomatic  correspondence  between  our  coun- 
tries has  been  published,  &  the  result  is  I  hope 
to  show  that  we  are  safe  for  the  present  from  the 
breakers.  There  is  nothing  at  issue  between  the  two 
countries  which  will  not  keep.  All  parties  here  join 
in  awarding  praise  to  Mr.  Adams  for  the  ability, 
discretion,  &  temper  with  which  he  conducted  his  very 
difficult  diplomacy  during  the  last  year.  I  am  not 
disposed  to  criticise  Lord  Russell.  I  am  satisfied 
with  the  result. 

You  allude  in  your  letter  to  the  prosperity  of  your 


^T^^xt-^ 


C/^U  «^.- 


fa      trijfi    A- 

7<.771g....  £+ 


Last  page  of  A.  L.  S.  (4  pages)  of  Richard  Cobden,  February  18,  1864 


H  (Broup  of  English  Statesmen   209 

finances.  I  am  sorry  there  is  nobody  to  tell  the 
parties  the  plain  truths.  You  are  producing  less 
in  consequence  of  the  war,  &  are  spending  through 
the  government  for  unproductive  purposes  an  un- 
paralleled amount.  Now,  if  the  people  in  their 
individual  capacities  were  living  on  short  rations,  & 
spending  less  on  their  clothing  &  other  outlays,  they 
might  by  their  restricting  their  expenses  save  as  much 
as  would  meet  the  government  wastes,  &  thus,  by 
anticipating  the  effects  of  the  war,  avert  a  great 
future  privation  &  difficulty.  But  the  effects  of  the 
paper  money  operating  like  alcohol  on  the  human 
system,  &  producing  an  excitement  on  the  body 
politic  which  like  the  stimulus  of  strong  drink,  though 
it  imparts  an  artificial  energy  for  the  moment,  is  sure 
to  leave  a  corresponding  prostration  at  the  end.  We 
read  glowing  accounts  of  the  prosperity  of  the  country 
&  the  extravagance  of  your  great  cities.  Nobody 
seems  prepared  for  the  revulsion  which  must  follow. 
I  am  afraid  of  the  consequences  on  your  politics  & 
almost  your  institutions.  If  you  have  to  encounter 
a  high  price  of  food  it  will  prove  a  most  serious  & 
unmanageable  element  in  your  national  finances.  I 
am  afraid  you  will  consider  me  a  croaker. 

My  wife  &  family  join  me  in  kind  remembrances 
to  Mrs.  Osborn  &  the  good  wishes  of  the  Sturgis 
&  believe  me  yours  truly, 

R.  COBDEN 

Peel  thought  that  John  Bright  was  a  more 
single-minded  man  than  Cobden  and  that  he 
had  done  what  he  did  for  the  repeal  of  the 

14 


210    "Rambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanb 

corn  duty  for  the  sake  of  the  people  and  not 
for  his  own.  Lord  Ellenborough  (the  son  of 
the  Chief  Justice)  said  of  the  two  men:  "I 
confess  I  think  they  were  both  unsuited  to  the 
present  constitution  of  the  country,  and  that 
they  had  a  strange  longing  for  something  more 
on  the  American  model."  That  seemed  to 
the  aged  Tory  a  grave  accusation,  but  some- 
how we  cannot  look  upon  it  with  the  horror 
expected  of  us.  One's  imagination  falters  in 
the  attempt  to  fancy  old  Ellenborough's 
feelings  if  he  had  lived  to  contemplate  the 
political  condition  of  England  to-day. 

This  letter  of  Bright  to  Horace  Greeley  was 
printed,  of  course,  in  the  Tribune  shortly 
after  its  receipt.  Even  to  a  man  who  sup- 
ported McClellan  in  1864  it  appears  to  be  a 
wise  and  certainly  a  friendly  one. 

ROCHDALE,  Ocf  i,  1864. 
DEAR  SIR: — 

For  more  than  three  years  the  people  of  this  country 
have  watched  with  a  constant  interest,  the  progress 
of  the  great  conflict  in  which  your  people  have  been 
engaged,  and,  as  you  know,  some  have  rejoiced  over 
the  temporary  successes  of  the  enemies  of  your  Govt. 
and  some  have  deeply  lamented  them. 


John  Bright 


a  (Broup  of  jEnslisb  Statesmen  211 

At  this  moment  we  turn  our  eyes  rather  to  the 
political  than  to  the  military  struggle,  and  there  is  with 
us  the  same  difference  of  opinion  &  of  sympathy  as  re- 
gards your  coming  Presidential  Election  that  has  been 
manifested  in  connexion  with  your  contest  in  the  field. 

All  those  of  my  countrymen  who  have  wished  well 
to  the  rebellion,  who  have  hoped  for  the  break-up 
of  your  Union,  who  have  preferred  to  see  a  Southern 
Slave  Empire  rather  than  a  restored  &  free  Republic, 
so  far  as  I  can  observe,  are  now  in  favor  of  the  election 
of  General  McClellan.  All  those  who  have  deplored 
the  calamities  which  the  leaders  of  Secession  have 
brought  upon  your  country — who  believe  that  slavery 
weakens  your  power  &  tarnishes  your  good  name 
throughout  the  world,  &  who  regard  the  restoration 
of  your  Union  as  a  thing  to  be  desired  &  prayed  for 
by  all  good  men,  so  far  as  I  can  judge,  are  heartily 
longing  for  the  re-election  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  Every 
friend  of  your  Union  probably,  in  Europe — every 
speaker  &  writer  who  has  sought  to  do  justice  to  your 
cause  since  the  war  began,  is  now  hoping  with  an 
intense  anxiety  that  Mr.  Lincoln  may  be  placed  at 
the  head  of  your  Executive  for  another  term. 

It  is  not  because  they  believe  Mr.  Lincoln  to  be 
wiser  or  better  than  all  other  men  in  your  Continent 
—but  they  think  they  have  observed  in  his  career 
a  grand  simplicity  of  purpose  &  a  patriotism  which 
knows  no  change,  &  which  does  not  falter.  To  some 
of  his  countrymen  there  may  appear  to  have  been 
errors  in  his  course.  It  would  be  strange  indeed  if 
in  the  midst  of  difficulties  so  stupendous  &  so  unex- 
pected, any  administration  or  any  Ruler  should  wholly 
avoid  mistakes.  To  us  looking  on  from  this  distance 


212    IRambles  in  Hutograpb  Xant> 

and  unmoved  by  the  passions  from  which  many 
of  your  People  can  hardly  be  expected  to  be  free, — 
regarding  his  Presidential  path  with  the  calm  judg- 
ment which  belongs  rather  to  History  than  to  the 
present  time,  as  our  outside  position  enables  us,  in 
some  degree,  to  regard  it, — we  see  in  it  an  honest 
endeavor  faithfully  to  do  the  work  of  his  great  office, 
and  in  the  doing  of  it  a  brightness  of  personal  honor 
on  which  no  adversary  has  yet  been  able  to  fix  a  stain. 

I  believe  that  the  effect  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  re-election 
in  England  &  in  Europe,  &  indeed  throughout  the 
world,  will  be  this — it  will  convince  all  men  that 
the  integrity  of  your  great  country  will  be  preserved 
&  it  will  show  that  Republican  Institutions  with  an 
instructed  and  patriotic  people  can  bear  a  nation  safely 
&  steadily  through  the  most  desperate  perils. 

I  am  one  of  your  friends  in  England  who  have  never 
lost  faith  in  your  cause.  I  have  spoken  to  my  country- 
men on  its  behalf,  &  now  in  writing  this  letter  to  you 
I  believe  I  speak  the  sentiments  &  the  heart's  wish 
of  every  man  in  England  who  hopes  for  the  freedom 
&  greatness  of  your  country.  Forgive  me  for  this 
intrusion  upon  you,  but  I  cannot  hold  back  from 
telling  you  what  is  passing  in  my  mind  &  I  wish  if 
possible  to  send  you  a  word  of  encouragement. 
Believe  me  always  with  great  respect, 

Yours  very  truly, 

JOHN  BRIGHT 
HORACE  GREELEY  Esq. 

NEW  YORK— U.  S. 

Even  in  England,  few  now  remember 
Robert  Lowe,  Viscount  Sherbrooke,  although 


$6a*.  t£\>  . 


OH 


***• 


First  page  of  A.  L.  S.  (4  pages)  of  John  Bright  to  Horace  Greeley,  October  i,  1864 


La-t  nage  of  A.  L.  S.  (4  pages)  of  John  Bright  to  Horace  Greeley,  October  i,  1864 


a  (Broup  of  jenglisb  Statesmen   213 

he  was  more  brilliant  than  either  Bright  or 
Cobden.  "  It  requires,"  says  Mr.  Bryce,  "  an 
effort  to  believe  that  he  was  at  one  time  held 
the  equal  in  oratory  and  the  superior  in  in- 
tellect of  Mr.  Bright  and  Mr.  Gladstone." 
But  he  had  disappeared  from  the  minds  of 
men  when,  in  1892,  in  his  eighty-second  year, 
he  passed  out  of  life.  With  all  his  great 
powers  of  mind,  he  was  not  well  fitted  for 
leadership,  and  he  had  neither  the  disposition 
nor  the  ability  to  coax,  flatter,  and  humour 
"  the  masses."  He  was  persistently  hostile 
to  Disraeli,  and  was  the  one  man  in  London 
with  whom  that  strange  semi-Oriental  per- 
sonage "would  not  shake  hands."  He  said 
of  Disraeli  that  "English  was,  after  all,  his 
native  language."  This  letter,  written  to  a 
friend  in  1876,  is  in  some  degree  expressive  of 
his  sentiments. 


SHERBROOKE,  CATERHAM. 

Sept.  27,  '76. 
MY  DEAR  JAMES — 

I  am  glad  you  approve.  I  am  much  grieved  at 
Dizzy  for  saying  that  the  great  mass  of  opinion  in 
England  is  against  his  policy  and  that  he  means  to 
adhere  to  it.  As  they  say  in  America — That 's  not 


214    "Rambles  in  Hutocjrapb 


democratic.  I  am  also  afflicted  to  think  that  we 
submit  to  such  treatment  and  that  the  policy  of  the 
Nation  is  to  depend  not  on  the  will  of  the  Nation  but  on 
the  will  of  one  Israelite  in  whom  there  is  much  guile. 

Believe  me  — 
Very  truly  yours, 

ROBERT  LOWE 

His  speeches  were  full  of  sarcasm.  Justin 
McCarthy  in  his  Portraits  of  the  Sixties  com- 
pares Lowe's  satirical  style  with  that  of  Lord 
Westbury,  asserting  that  while  Lowe  was 
effective,  he  was  not  quite  as  effective  as 
Richard  Bethell.  I  quote: 

He  jibed  and  jeered  at  his  opponents  in  rasping  tones 
suited  to  the  words.  The  listener  was  amused  and 
delighted  but  never  surprised.  Lowe  was  going  in 
avowedly  and  obviously  for  making  his  antagonists 
feel  uncomfortable  and  angry.  The  tone,  the  man- 
ner, the  glances,  and  the  gestures  were  all  in  keeping 
with  that  kind  of  purpose.  There  was  no  charm  of 
surprise  or  contrast  about  it. 

During  the  pendency  of  the  Gladstone 
Reform  Bill  of  1866  he  wrote  as  follows: 

36  LOWNDES  SQUARE. 

March  26,  1866. 

MY  DEAR  MELVILLE:  — 

I  cannot  tell  what  the  effect  of  Gladstone's  speech 
will  be  on  the  public,  but  I  know  what  effect  it  ought 
to  have  on  members  of  Parliament.  It  is  a  simple 


H  (Broup  of  English  Statesmen   215 

avowal  that  finding  statistics  against  him  he  throws 
them  aside  and  relies  on  our  common  humanity  and 
Christianity  principles  which  have  at  least  the  ad- 
vantage of  being  independant  of  figures.  There  is 
no  profit  in  trying  to  prove  the  real  meaning  of  the 
Bill.  It  stands  confessed  as  an  attempt  to  effect 
a  complete  change  of  Political  Power  from  Education 
to  Ignorance,  from  Property  to  poverty.  Those  who 
pay  the  taxes  will  not  impose  them,  those  who  impose 
them  will  not  pay  them.  Free  Trade  is  to  be  handed 
over  to  people  notoriously  inclined  to  protection, 
Peace  to  people  ever  ready  to  go  to  war  for  an  idea 
and  Individual  liberty  to  people  who  tolerate  no 
difference  of  opinion  from  their  own.  Lord  Grosvenor 
is  threatened  with  the  loss  of  his  estate,  the  House 
of  Commons  with  physical  force  and  the  rest  of  us 
are  bespattered  with  the  coarsest  abuse  while  no 
attempt  is  made  to  answer  our  arguments. 

It  is  very  hard  that  I  who  possess  so  very  small 
a  stake  in  this  land  should  have  to  fight  this  battle 
against  the  very  men  who  will  be  the  first  victims  of 
the  coming  change. 

People  long  for  land  just  as  much  here  as  in  America, 
only  there  the  longing  can  be  satisfied  without  an 
agrarian  Law — here  it  cannot.  Property  exists  here 
because  we  are  able  to  curb  the  majority  but  give 
them  the  power  of  government  and  who  shall  curb 
them  then?  People  seem  to  forget  that  they  can  be 
just  as  effectually  robbed  by  Law  as  by  violence  and 
that  the  whole  question  is,  who  are  to  make  the  Laws. 

Believe  me  always, 
.  Very  sincerely  yours, 
R.  LOWE 


216    IRambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanb 

He  opposed  the  Gladstone  bill  with  great 
force  and  ability,  and  was  one  of  the  so-called 
"  Adullamites  "  who  seceded  from1  the  Liberals 
on  that  issue.  It  is  conceded  that  his  speeches 
contributed  more  to  its  defeat  than  any  other 
cause.  Yet,  strange  to  say,  the  result  was 
the  reverse  of  what  he  most  longed  to  accom- 
plish. The  bill  of  1 866  was  mild  in  comparison 
with  that  of  1867,  which  was  carried  by  the 
Tories  "beguiled  by  Mr.  Disraeli."  "Thus," 
says  Bryce,  "Robert  Lowe  as  much  as  Dis- 
raeli and  Gladstone  may  in  a  sense  be  called 
an  author  of  the  tremendous  change  which 
has  passed  upon  the  British  Constitution  since 
1866." 

"Well,  we  must  educate  our  masters," 
said  Lowe  after  the  bill  had  become  a  law. 
His  prophecies  of  the  ultimate  effect  of 
the  extension  of  the  suffrage  were  far 
too  gloomy,  thought  Mr.  Bryce  in  1903; 
but  much  has  occurred  since  1903  to  con- 
vince us  that  the  evils  he  predicted  were 
not  fanciful.  He  was  no  believer  in  the 
"democracy"  falsely  so  called,  preached  by 
the  demagogues. 


a  6roup  of  English  Statesmen   2 1 7 

We  were  warned  fifty  years  ago,  [writes  Mr.  G. 
W.  E.  Russell  in  1901]  to  remember  that  democracy 
means  a  government,  not  merely  by  numbers  of 
isolated  individuals,  but  by  a  demos — by  men  accus- 
tomed to  live  in  demoi,  or  corporate  bodies,  and 
accustomed,  therefore,  to  the  self-control,  obedience 
to  law,  and  self-sacrificing  public  spirit  without 
which  a  corporate  body  cannot  exist.  "A  democracy 
of  mere  numbers  is  no  democracy,  but  a  mere  brute 
'arithmocracy,'  which  is  certain  to  degenerate  into  an 
'othlocracy,'  [sic]  or  government  by  the  mob,  in  which 
the  members  have  no  real  share;  and  oligarchy  of 
the  fiercest,  the  noisiest,  the  rashest,  and  the  most 
shameless,  which  is  surely  swallowed  up,  either  by 
a  despotism,  as  in  France,  or,  as  in  Athens,  by 
utter  national  ruin  and  hopeless  slavery  to  a  foreign 
invader." 


When  Sir  Stafford  Northcote,  a  scholarly 
and  clear -minded  statesman,  came  to  the 
United  States  in  1871  with  the  Marquis 
of  Ripon  and  Professor  Montague  Bernard 
to  arrange  for  the  settlement  of  the  Alabama 
Claims  question,  a  banquet  was  given  to 
the  Commission  by  Cyrus  W.  Field;  and 
years  later,  Field,  never  unmindful  of  his 
own  great  services  in  the  matter  of  the 
Atlantic  Cable,  applied  to  Northcote — then 
Lord  Iddesleigh — for  his  views  on  the  value 


218    "Rambles  in  Hutograpb  Olanfc 

of  the  cable  in  the  negotiations  for  arbitration. 
Northcote  made  this  rather  cautious  but  very 
sensible  reply: 

OSBORNE — 
July  23,  1885. 

DEAR  MR.  FIELD: — 

I  am  truly  sorry  that  an  engagement  of  very  long 
standing  prevents  my  attending  your  dinner  on  the 
5th  August. 

You  ask  me  whether  we  found  the  Atlantic  Cable 
of  use  during  the  Washington  negotiations.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  it  was  a  main  agent  in  the 
matter.  We  usually  met  our  American  colleagues 
at  midday,  and  we  were  by  that  time  in  possession 
of  the  views  of  our  Home  Government  as  adopted 
at  their  Cabinet  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day. 
I  am  sometimes  heretic  enough  to  doubt  whether 
such  very  rapid  and  constant  communication  is  of 
unmixed  advantage  in  the  conduct  of  a  negotiation; 
but  undoubtedly  there  are  frequently  occasions  when 
it  is  almost  essential  to  have  the  means  of  exchanging 
ideas  with  only  a  few  minutes'  or  at  most  a  few  hours' 
delay  instead  of  at  intervals  of  weeks. 

Believe  me, 
Yours  faithfully, 

IDDESLEIGH 

CYRUS  W.  FIELD  Esq. 

Sir  Stafford  was  fortunate  in  having  Andrew 
Lang  for  his  biographer.  Lang  tells  us  that 
in  the  negotiations  in  Washington  the  English 


a  (Broup  of  English  Statesmen   219 

were  fighting  a  triangular  or  even  a  quad- 
rilateral duel,  for  they  had  to  hold  their  own 
not  only  with  the  Americans,  but  with  the 
Home  Government  and  the  representative 
of  Canada.  He  adds  this  Langian  touch: 
"The  Home  Government  kept  putting  in 
their  oar,  and  once — for  which  much  may 
by  literary  persons  be  forgiven  them — they 
telegraphed  that,  in  the  treaty,  they  would 
not  endure  adverbs  between  'to'  (the  sign 
of  the  infinitive)  and  the  verb.  The  purity 
of  the  English  language  they  nobly  and 
courageously  defended . ' '  This  may  have  been 
one  of  the  reasons  why  Sir  Stafford  did  not 
regard  the  cable  as  an  unmixed  blessing. 

Northcote  was  "too  sweetly  reasonable" 
to  become  a  great  leader.  So  optimistic 
was  his  disposition  that  one  of  his  supporters 
cried  out,  "Hang  that  fellow  Northcote!  he  's 
always  seeing  blue  sky!"  He  was  not  one 
of  that  sort  of  leader  so  common  of  late  who 
first  convince  the  public  that  everything  is 
wrong,  and  then  that  they  are  the  only  per- 
sons who  can  set  everything  right. 

The  lives  of  the  Lord  Chancellors  of  England 


220    IRambles  in  Hutograpb  lanfc 

may  not  afford  to  the  general  reader  as  much 
interest  as  those  of  kings  and  warriors,  but 
to  lawyers  and  to  students  of  English  legal 
and  political  history  they  are  full  of  fascina- 
tion. Lord  Campbell,  however  untrust- 
worthy he  may  be  as  an  historian,  deserves 
our  gratitude  for  giving  to  the  world  the 
biographies  of  the  Chancellors  from  the  earliest 
times  to  the  days  of  Lyndhurst  and  Brougham ; 
his  failings,  particularly  those  displayed  in 
his  sketches  of  the  two  last  mentioned  Chancel- 
lors, are  so  well  understood  that  an  intelli- 
gent reader  is  not  likely  to  be  misled  by  them, 
and  he  will  find  them  undeniably  entertaining. 
The  work  of  Mr.  J.  B.  Atlay  (The  Victorian 
Chancellors)  is  of  a  different  order,  and  while 
it  is  entertaining  it  is  devoid  of  the  appearance 
of  personal  or  partisan  prejudice.  Prepared 
according  to  the  methods  of  modern  bio- 
graphy, it  betrays  no  bias  and  gives  us  assur- 
ance of  the  author's  fairness  and  freedom 
from  petty  jealousies  or  antipathies.  He  is 
careful  to  say  that  his  undertaking  "makes 
no  claim  to  be  regarded  as  a  continuation" 
of  Campbell's  series.  He  treats  of  the  thir- 


B  (Broup  of  Englieb  Statesmen   221 

teen  Chancellors  who  occupied  the  woolsack 
between  1837  and  1901,  and  adds  Brougham, 
not  technically  a  Victorian  Chancellor,  be- 
cause of  his  intimate  connection  with  the 
fortunes  of  his  successors  and  with  the  affairs 
of  the  Victorian  period.  Of  the  subjects 
of  these  biographies  the  greater  number  were 
extraordinary  men  physically  as  well  as 
intellectually;  their  longevity  has  been  a 
frequent  cause  of  comment.  Most  of  them 
were  laborious  in  the  extreme,  but  their 
mental  toil  seems  to  have  acted  as  a  preserva- 
tive. St.  Leonards  (Sugden),  perhaps  the 
most  learned  of  them  all,  lived  to  be  ninety- 
two;  Lyndhurst,  the  most  brilliant,  to  be 
ninety-one;  Brougham,  the  most  versatile, 
to  be  eighty-nine;  Chelmsford  to  be  eighty- 
four,  Selborne  to  be  eighty-two,  and  Halsbury 
still  survives  (1912),  vigorous  at  eighty-seven. 
Cottenham  died  at  seventy,  Truro  and 
Westbury  at  seventy-three,  Cranworth  at 
seventy-seven,  Hatherly  at  nearly  eighty,  and 
Campbell  at  eighty-one.  Cairns  and  Herschell 
were  the  youngest,  the  former  dying  at  sixty- 
four  and  the  latter  at  sixty-one,  but  Cairns 


222     IRambles  in  autograph  Xanfc 

early  developed  the  seeds  of  consumption  and 
Herschell  was  the  victim  of  an  unfortunate 
accident  while  visiting  the  United  States. 
In  length  of  service,  Lord  Halsbury  leads 
them  all  with  a  total  of  seventeen  years,  and 
St.  Leonards  had  the  shortest  tenure,  only 
about  ten  months. 

My  Eldon  autographs  are  mostly  official. 
This  letter  must  have  been  written  in  1816, 
as  that  was  the  year  when  Abbott  (afterwards 
Lord  Tenterden)  was  appointed  a  puisne 
Judge  of  the  Common  Pleas. 

MY  DEAR  LORD:- 

I  have  not  got  the  Prince's  consent,  nor  his  War- 
rant, of  Com"  for  H.  I  appointed  Abbott  two  days 
ago  to  be  sworn  in  tomorrow — Ser*  and  Judge — & 
I  presume  his  Society,  himself  &c.  are  all  prepared. — 
I  really  do  not  know,  now,  how  to  interfere. — I  was 
ignorant  of  the  fact  of  seniority  at  the  bar,  the 
appointment  of  Abbott  having  been  first  certified 
to  him  &  even  before  Dampier's  death.  I  do  not 
think  that,  on  account  of  the  mere  seniority  at  the 
bar,  I  can,  in  the  actual  circumstances,  interpose, 
now,  to  make  his,  the  first  notified  appointment,  the 
latter  in  order.  That  seems  very  awkward,  and  tho' 
I  regret  this  thing  about  the  seniority,  I  feel  it  that 
it  would  be  very  uncomfortable  to  intimate  to  Abbott 
that  that,  which  is  in  substance  the  first  appointment, 


a  Group  of  £ngli0b  Statesmen    223 

should  now  be  converted  into  the  second.  I  dont 
know  how  to  propose  it  to  A.  after  what  has  passed. 
/  hope  tomorrow  will  bring  me  some  answer  from  the 
Prince,  but  I  am  by  no  means,  after  what  I  have 
heard  today,  sure  of  it. 

Yrs  most  truly, 

ELDON 
I  am  just  this  moment  come  home. 

Brougham  wrote  many  letters  and  my 
examples  are  numerous,  but  none  of  them 
possess  much  interest.  His  handwriting  was 
atrocious.  A  writer  in  the  Spectator  says: 

Charles  Knight  describes  the  undignified  rush  of  Lord 
Chancellor  Brougham  from  his  robing  room  to  the 
woolsack  with  grave  officials  puffing  scandalised  after 
him.  The  characteristics  of  Brougham's  handwriting, 
as  we  see  it  here,  are  just  the  same ;  it  is  a  hasty,  dash- 
ing scrawl,  the  words  have  been  thrown  at  the  paper, 
instead  of  being  written  upon  it,  and  have  stuck  there 
as  they  best  could  without  assistance. 

Lord  Cottenham  also  wrote  an  abominable 
hand;  Lyndhurst's  is  more  legible.  This  ex- 
tract from  a  manuscript  opinion  illustrates  the 
natural  disposition  of  a  lawyer  (which  lay- 
men consider  to  be  so  reprehensible)  to  advise 
a  client  less  with  reference  to  the  merits  of 
the  controversy  than  to  the  chances  of  win- 
ning the  cause. 


224    IRambles  In  Hutoarapb 


I  am  for  the  reasons  above  given  clearly  of  opinion 
that  the  Deft,  ought  not  to  demur,  and  as  to  the  plea 
of  non  est  factum,  I  think  it  not  improbable  that  it 
will  be  proved  at  the  trial  (&  the  Deft  has  no  evidence 
to  the  contrary)  that  the  alteration  was  made  before 
the  execution  of  the  Bond.  In  fact  the  deft,  in  this 
respect  seems  to  be  completely  in  the  power  of  Brit- 
tain.  There  is  therefore  considerable  hazard  in 
defending  the  action,  and  I  think  it  by  much  the  most 
prudent  course  to  settle  it  by  payment  of  the  debt 
and  costs. 

J.  COPLEY 
TEMPLE,  Deer  23,  1815  — 

Sugden  was  a  great  lawyer  but  he  did  not 
always  study  his  briefs,  and  on  one  occasion 
in  the  Vice-  Chancellor's  Court  he  argued  one 
side  of  a  case  before  he  found  out  that  he  had 
been  retained  and  briefed  by  the  other  side. 
It  was  Sugden  who  made  the  famous  remark 
about  Brougham,  that  if  he  only  knew  a 
little  law  he  would  know  a  little  of  every- 
thing. His  legal  writings,  especially  his 
treatise  on  the  Law  of  Vendors  and  Purchasers, 
have  always  been  considered  of  the  highest 
authority,  although  Mr.  Bryce  said  that  they 
were  "a  mere  accumulation  of  details  un- 
illumined  and  unrelieved  by  any  statement 
of  general  principles,  and  that,  in  literary 


a  Group  of  JEngHsb  Statesmen   225 

style  no  less  than  in  the  cast  and  quality  of 
his  intellect,  he  is  hard  and  crabbed." 

When  he  died  his  will  could  not  be  found 
although  the  eight  codicils  were  safe  in  his 
tin-box.  Thereupon  a  thing  thitherto  un- 
heard of  happened:  the  court  allowed  the 
contents  of  the  lost  will  to  be  proved  by  the 
oral  testimony  of  the  daughter. 

This  letter,  written  when  he  was  Chancellor, 
shows  the  interest  he  felt  in  the  improvement 
of  the  Chancery  Court.  Bellenden  Ker,  of 
whom  he  speaks,  was  a  prominent  law  reformer. 
Although  his  term  of  orifice  was  brief,  Sugden 
succeeded  in  procuring  the  passage  of  his 
bills  for  the  amendment  of  chancery  and 
common-law  procedure. 

BOYLE  FARM — 

4th  Sept.  1852. 
MY  DEAR  LORD  BROUGHAM: 

I  was  in  possession  of  Bellenden  Ker's  paper  and 
of  the  substance  of  your  correspondence  with  Lynd- 
hurst  when  all  the  other  papers  were  under  my  re- 
view. I  readily  adopt  your  suggestion  to  commence 
with  "offences  against  the  person."  Lyndhurst  has 
given  me  the  same  advice  altho'  on  different  grounds. 

Your  other  suggestions  have  not  been  lost  sight 
of.  I  have  had  the  subject  of  the  County  Courts 

IS 


226    Ifambles  in  autograph  %ant> 

&  of  the  Bankruptcy  Courts  repeatedly  under  con- 
sideration. I  am  sorry  to  say  that  I  have  taken  a 
view  of  the  subjects  which  does  not  altogether  agree 
with  yours  although  as  we  have  the 'same  object  in 
view  it  is  not  I  hope  likely  that  we  should  ultimately 
disagree  and  I  need  not  assure  you  how  much  value  I 
set  upon  your  opinion.  Indeed  both  of  the  Courts 
may  be  said  to  be  entitled  [sic]  to  you  for  their 
creation. 

I  have  offered  All  Saints  &  St.  Julian's,  Norwich, 
(230'  a  year  without  a  House)  to  your  friend  Mr. 
Gurney.  He  has  not  as  you  supposed  thrown  up 
his  small  living  and  had  to  pay  for  dilapidations  but 
he  retains  it  and  being  there  without  a  House  has 
obtained  the  consent  of  the  Bishop  &  myself  to  the 
erection  of  a  House.  However  I  hope  this  living 
will  suit  him  better. 

The  living  of  All  Saints  has  come  to  the  Crown  by 
lapse  and  the  incumbent  is  an  immoral  person  who 
is  rejected  by  his  Parishioners  &  the  Bishop  and 
forced  to  live  abroad  so  that  it  is  quite  right  to  fill 
it  up.  But  the  vacancy  has  led  to  a  great  scandal 
and  very  much  alarmed  me.  A  clergyman  who  was 
aware  of  the  lapse  sold  the  knowledge  of  the  fact  for 
ioool  to  another  clergyman  who  wanted  preferment 
for  his  son  and  the  father  of  the  latter  then  applied 
to  me  for  the  Living.  I  have  submitted  the  case  to 
the  Diocesan.  Believe  me, 

My  dear  Lord  Brougham, 

Ever  truly  yours, 

ST  LEONARDS 

[Addressed — The  LORD  BROUGHAM,  BROUGHAM  CAS- 
TLE, PENRITH] 


H  (Broup  of  English  Statesmen   227 

The  concluding  portion  of  the  letter  is  a 
striking  commentary  on  the  condition  of  the 
Anglican  Church  in  the  middle  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  We  cannot  wonder  that 
men  like  Leslie  Stephen  could  not  remain 
in  its  ministry. 

This  letter  of  Lord  Cranworth  has  an 
autographic  bearing. 

20  UPPER  BROOK  ST. 

21  May,  1865. 
MY  DEAR  MR.  PANIZZI — 

My  friend  Addington  who  has  lately  returned  from 
Italy  met  at  Florence  the  American  sculptor  Mr. 
Powers  who  is  making  a  head  of  our  Saviour. 

Among  the  data  on  which  he  was  forming  his  notion 
of  what  the  expression  of  the  countenance  ought  to 
be  was  a  letter  in  English  purporting  to  be  a  letter 
from  "Publius  Lentulus,  President  of  Judea  at  the 
time  when  the  fame  of  Jesus  Christ  began  to  spread 
abroad"  The  letter  was  said  to  have  been  removed 
by  Bonaparte  from  the  Vatican  to  Paris  &  Addington 
could  not  ascertain  whether  it  was  written  in  Greek 
or  Latin.  Do  you  know  anything  on  the  subject? 
I  shd  be  glad  of  any  information  you  can  give  me  on 
the  subject.  Yours  very  truly, 

CRANWORTH 

This  is  not  remarkably  clear  for  a  Chancel- 
lor. If  the  letter  was  "in  English,"  how 


228    IRambles  in  Hutoorapb  %an£> 

could  it  have  been  "in  Greek  or  Latin"? 
No  doubt  he  meant  that  Powers  was  working 
from  an  English  copy  of  a  supposed  original. 

When  Cranworth  at  seventy -five  was  made 
Chancellor  for  the  second  time,  some  kind 
friend — it  is  whispered  that  it  was  the  Queen, 
but  Mr.  Atlay  does  not  believe  it — congratu- 
lated him  saying,  "Well,  Cranny,  Kingsley 
is  right,  it  is  better  to  be  good  than  clever." 
But  Lord  Selborne  thought  that  Rolfe  was 
one  of  the  best  Chancellors  he  had  ever  known, 
and  even  Campbell,  whose  judgments  were 
apt  to  be  severe,  testified  to  "his  unsullied 
honour,  his  warmth  of  heart,  his  instinctive 
rectitude  of  feeling,  his  legal  acquirements, 
his  patient  industry,  and  his  devoted  desire 
to  do  his  duty."  Westbury,  however,  was 
of  a  different  mind  and  when  some  one  re- 
marked to  him,  "I  wonder  why  old  Cranny 
always  sits  with  the  Lords  Justices,"  replied: 
"  I  take  it  to  arise  from  a  childish  indisposition 
to  be  left  alone  in  the  dark." 

But  Richard  Bethell  always  had  a  bitter 
speech  on  the  tip  of  his  tongue — one  reason 
why  when  he  resigned  his  office  under  a  cloud 


a  Group  of  £n0U0b  Statesmen   229 

he  did  not  get  much  real  sympathy.  One 
of  his  letters,  brief  as  it  is,  has  a  fling  against 
Lord  Salisbury.  He  seldom  gave  the  year 
when  he  dated  his  letters. 

HOUSE  OF  LORDS,  May  12 — 
DEAR  LORD  JUSTICE — 

Your  idea  of  the  proper  addition  to  Lord  Salis- 
bury's foolish  declaration  was  an  excellent  one.  If 
there  had  been  time  I  wd  have  given  notice  of  an 
amendment  on  the  report. 

Yours  sincerely, 

WESTBURY 
The  LORD  JUSTICE  JAMES— 

When  Campbell  became  Chancellor  at 
eighty,  Lyndhurst  made  what  Mr.  Atlay 
calls  "a  most  felicitous  quotation"  over  the 
attainment  by  Campbell  of  everything  he 
had  ever  looked  forward  to :  "  We  may  say  of 
him,  in  the  words  of  the  poet: 

'  Thou  hast  it  now,  King,  Cawdor,  Glamis,  all, 
As  the  weird  woman  promised.'" 

Mr.  Atlay  reminds  us  however  that  the  un- 
quoted words  following  are: 

and  I  fear 
Thou  playd'st  most  foully  for  it. 


230    IRambles  in  Hutograpb 


One  of  my  Campbell  letters  refers  to  his 
Lives  of  the  Chancellors" 

MY  DEAR  SIR: 

I  trust  you  are  much  better  though  you  do  not 
mention  your  health.  I  shall  do  very  well  with 
Gardiner.  But  I  should  be  glad  to  have  any  experi- 
ences respecting  his  successor,  Archbishop  Heath. 
Then  you  must  supply  me  with  materials  for  Sir 
Nicholas  Bacon,  Sir  Christopher  Hatton,  Sir  John 
Puckering,  &  Lord  Ellesmere  which  will  bring  me 
down  to  Lord  Bacon.  I  remain 

Yours  faithfully, 

CAMPBELL 

He  wrote  a  very  ladylike  hand,  as  did 
Grover  Cleveland  and  General  Winfield 
Scott. 

Patient,  acute,  and  painstaking,  William 
Page  Wood,  Lord  Hatherly,  was  not  one  of 
the  great  Chancellors.  It  was  said  in  regard 
to  him:  "When  he  who  has  too  little  piety 
is  impossible  and  he  who  has  too  much  is 
impracticable,  he  who  has  equal  piety  and 
ability  becomes  Lord  Chancellor."  This  let- 
ter of  his  was  written  when  he  was  approach- 
ing eighty,  in  the  small,  feeble  characters  of 
an  aged  man  with  impaired  eyesight — very 


H  <3roup  of  J6nglisb  Statesmen    231 

unlike  the  bold  handwriting  of  a  note  written 
in  1872.  His  promise  of  an  annual  contri- 
bution did  not  involve  him  in  much  expense, 
for  he  died  in  less  than  three  months. 


32  GT  GEORGE  ST. 
April  16,  1881. 

DEAR  LADY  SELBORNE — 

I  thank  you  for  your  confidence  in  my  attachment 
to  P.  M.  W.  &  gladly  would  I  undertake  to  pay  £30 
per  annum  during  my  life  &  the  continuance  of  his 
work  at  St.  Thomas.  I  cannot  promise  anything 
after  my  death.  I  have  already  provided  annuities 
by  my  will  to  extend  the  amount  of  which  might 
embarrass  me  with  reference  to  relatives  &  others, 
while  my  means  of  satisfying  them  will  be  less. 

I  shall  call  to  leave  this  in  the  hope  of  seeing  you  for 
a  few  minutes.  In  the  mean  time  I  will  express  my 
hope  that  the  Chancellor  &  yourself  will  enjoy  some 
holiday  before  the  long  work  of  the  session  commences 
in  the  Lords.  With  best  regards  to  him  &  yourself, 
believe  me 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

HATHERLY 

The  LADY  SELBORNE. 


A  study  of  English  jurisprudence  leads  one 
to  believe  that  the  general  administration  of 
equity  was  not  benefited  by  that  practical 
system  of  the  "recall"  under  which  a  change 


232    "Rambles  in  Hutosrapb  Xanfc 

of  the  Ministry  necessitates  a  change  of 
Chancellors.  The  judicial  functions  of  the 
Chancellor  are  at  this  time  of  so  little  impor- 
tance when  compared  with  what  they  were  in 
former  days,  that  it  is  now  a  matter  of  little 
consequence. 


CHAPTER  XII 

COLONIAL  NOTABLES 

Colonial  Governors:  Bellingham;  Sir  Francis  Bernard — Revolu- 
tionary: Sir  Guy  Carleton;  Nathanael  Greene;  Richard 
Henry  Lee — Literary:  Bret  Harte;  Whittier;  Bayard 
Taylor. 

THE  autographs  of  American  Colonial  Gov- 
ernors are  well  esteemed  by  American  col- 
lectors, and  the  supply  is  not  very  plentiful. 
Some  of  the  letters  are  fairly  interesting  but 
the  documents  are  more  numerous  and  their 
interest  is  chiefly  historical.  One  of  mine 
appears  to  have  some  connection  with  the 
hostility  of  the  early  settlers  of  New  England 
to  the  habit  of  wearing  long  hair.  It  is  an 
affidavit  sworn  to  before  Richard  Bellingham, 
afterwards  Governor  of  Massachusetts : 

I  Jonathan  Lambert  aged  about  twenty  yeares, 
deposeth  and  saith  that  coming  in  the  ship  Blossum, 
Mr.  John  Trumble  comander  after  the  shallop  came 


234    IRambles  in  Hutograpb 


abord  I  heard  two  of  them  say  that  thay  shaved 
thare  heads  and  further  this  deponent  saith  not  dated 
ye  25th  4:1662.  Sworn  ye  sd  day 

R.  BELLINGHAM  Dep  Gov  — 

Bellingham  was  Deputy  Governor  for 
thirteen  years  and  Governor  for  ten  years. 
When  in  1641  he  married  for  the  second  time, 
it  is  related  that  "a  young  gentleman  was 
about  to  be  contracted  to  a  friend  of  his, 
when  on  a  sudden  the  governor  treated  with 
her  and  obtained  her  for  himself."  This 
was  reversing  the  Miles  Standish  precedent. 
We  are  further  told  that  the  banns  were  not 
published  properly,  and  that  he  performed 
the  marriage  ceremony  himself.  Bellingham 
was  evidently  a  vigorous  opponent  of  long 
hair.  There  is  a  document  extant  —  I  have 
only  a  printed  copy  —  dated  in  1649,  signed 
by  him  as  well  as  by  Governor  Endicott, 
Deputy  Governor  Thomas  Dudley,  and  others 
as  Magistrates,  beginning: 

Forasmuch  as  the  wearing  of  long  hair  after  the  manner 
of  Russians  and  barbarous  Indians,  has  begun  to  in- 
vade New  England,  contrary  to  the  rule  of  God's  word, 
which  says  it  is  a  shame  for  a  man  to  wear  long  hair, 


Colonial  IRotables  235 

as  also  the  commendable  custom  of  all  the  Godly  of  all 
our  nation  until  within  these  few  years — 


He  ends  by  entreating  the  elders  "to  take 
care  that  the  members  of  their  respective 
churches  be  not  defiled  therewith." 

Trevelyan  in  his  History  of  the  American 
Revolution  says  of  Francis  Bernard,  Governor 
of  New  Jersey  from  1758  to  1760  and  of 
Massachusetts  from  1760  to  1769:  "Since 
Machiavelli  undertook  to  teach  the  Medici 
how  principalities  might  be  governed  and 
maintained,  no  such  body  of  literature  was 
put  on  paper  as  that  in  which  Sir  Francis 
Bernard  (for  his  services  procured  him  a 
baronetcy)  instructed  George  the  Third  and 
his  Ministers  in  the  art  of  throwing  away  a 
choice  portion  of  a  mighty  Empire."  Yet 
Bernard  began  well  and  bade  fair  to  be  a 
popular  Governor.  So  highly  was  he  at 
first  esteemed  in  Massachusetts  that  the 
Assembly  presented  to  him  several  addresses 
signifying  their  regard  for  him,  and  also  voted 
to  him  a  grant  of  Mount  Desert  Island — so 
that  he  might  as  well  have  given  his  name  to 


236    Gambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanfc 

what  is  now  Bar  Harbor  as  to  a  township  in 
Somerset  County,  New  Jersey.  His  letter 
shows  that  in  the  second  year  of  his  service 
he  enjoyed  the  favour  of  the  colonists  without 
abatement;  but  it  also  exhibits  some  traits 
of  character  which  foretell  disaster,  and  a 
lack  of  appreciation  of  the  actual  "popular 
spirit." 

CASTLE  WILLIAM,  Aug.  8, 1761 — 
DEAR  SR 

I  am  ashamed  to  see  how  long  your  last  favor  has 
laid  by  me  unacknowledged;  and  yet  it  has  been  my 
misfortune  rather  than  my  fault.  A  wrong  headed 
&  ill  advised  Custom  House  officer  had  created  so 
much  trouble  in  his  own  &  other  public  offices  that 
It  has  required  all  my  attention  to  keep  the  flame 
under.  And  this  has  engaged  me  in  such  a  deal  of 
ungracious  writing,  that  I  am  greatly  behindhand  not 
only  in  my  private  but  also  in  my  public  correspond- 
ence. But  as  I  now  contrive  to  spend  a  good  part 
of  my  time  in  this  retreat  (which  is  on  an  Island  3 
miles  from  Boston)  I  hope  soon  to  clear  myself  of 
my  Epistolar  Debts. 

I  have  never  ballanced  more  nicely  upon  any  sub- 
ject than  I  have  upon  the  change  of  my  Government ; 
&  my  conclusion  amounts  to  this:  that  in  regard  to 
myself  it  would  not  have  been  advisable;  with  a  view 
of  advantage  to  my  children,  it  is  for  the  better. 
The  Increase  of  income  affords  no  great  weight  in 
the  scale,  tho  it  will  more  than  pay  the  increase  of 


X 

f. 


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A   L.  S.  of  Sir  Francis  Bernard,  August  8,  1761 


Colonial  notables  237 

expence;  but  it  by  no  means  will  compensate  for  the 
addition  of  trouble.  State  and  importance  I  reckon 
on  the  minus  side:  I  had  full  enough  of  them, 
(too  much  for  a  Philosopher)  in  my  former  Govern- 
ment, and  of  all  things  in  Life,  did  not  want  an  increase 
of  them.  Power  I  cannot  entirely  disclaim — because 
it  makes  part  of  my  System  to  provide  for  my  children. 
This  is  my  chief  View :  I  have  immediately  obtained 
a  good  opportunity  of  having  my  children  well 
educated  under  my  Eye  &  have  a  fair  prospect  of 
procuring  good  settlements  for  them  when  they  are 
fit  for  it.  And  upon  this  account  I  cheerfully  submit 
to  State  and  Politicks,  &  endeavour  to  persuade  my- 
self that  the  Life  is  very  tolerable. 

This  Province  is  very  much  altered  from  what  it 
has  been;  the  popular  spirit  is  much  subsided  & 
the  true  Idea  of  the  English  Government  begins  to 
be  well  understood.  Allmost  All  the  Men  whose 
Superior  Talents  or  Fortunes  lift  them  above  the 
common  People  are  friends  to  Government:  the 
present  Assembly  is  well  filled  with  them.  The  Bone 
of  Contention  between  the  Governor  &  People  is 
now  removed  by  a  compromise.  The  Salary  indeed 
is  granted  annually;  but  then  it  is  considered  only  as 
a  form.  It  must  be  the  first  Act  passed  upon  the 
opening  of  the  Annual  Assembly;  &  it  is  known  that 
the  Governor  is  instructed  to  pass  no  Act  untill  the 
Act  for  granting  at  least  £1000  sterling  to  the  Gover- 
nor is  sent  up.  So  that  it  is  now  put  upon  the  footing 
of  a  Convention,  the  breach  of  which  must  put  a  stop 
to  all  Business.  In  other  matters  the  People  observe 
their  Compact  with  the  Crown  with  more  preciseness 
than  in  most  other  Governments.  The  independent 


238    'Rambles  in  Huto$rapb  Xanfc 

power  of  the  Captain  General  in  all  military  business 
is  held  inviolate :  and  the  power  of  the  Governor  with 
advise  of  Council  to  issue  all  public  money  is  strictly 
maintained.  Both  these  Rights  have  broke  in  upon 
in  New  York  &  New  Jersey  &  the  encroachments  are 
still  insisted  upon.  All  Commissions  &  officers  in 
this  Province  are  in  the  Gift  of  the  Governor,  the 
Military  absolutely,  the  Civil  with  the  advice  of 
Council,  which  seldom  or  never  opposes  the  Governor's 
Nominations.  Upon  the  whole  the  Governor's  power 
is  sufficiently  independant  &  the  People,  well  enough 
disposed  to  promise  a  quiet  Administration  to  a 
prudent  &  moderate  Man. 

Thus  much  for  my  Political  Situation.  My  private 
Life  I  must  reserve  for  another  Letter  at  more  leisure. 
The  most  pleasant  account  of  me  will  be  from  this 
Castle,  where  I  spend  4  or  5  days  in  the  week  during 
the  summer  in  a  very  agreeable  manner.  I  have  here 
a  most  delightful  apartment  to  which  I  am  making 
some  small  additions  to  accommodate  Mrs.  Bernard 
who  is  very  fond  of  this  place.  Here  I  am  quite  a 
private  Gentleman,  excepting  a  few  Military  honors 
upon  releiving  the  guard  &c.  &  excepting  military 
business,  which  has  been  my  case  this  month  past, 
having  been  collecting  &  embarking  1000  provincials 
to  releive  the  regulars  at  Halifax. 

I  shall  want  to  know  how  you  fare  amongst  the 
changes  &  chances  of  this  mortal  life.  You  still 
superintend  the  Treasury  of  Ireland,  &  I  understand 
are  the  Representative  of  Aylesbury.  This  last  gives 
me  pleasure,  as  I  conclude  from  thence  that  you  visit 
in  a  large  House  in  that  Neighbourhood,  about  which 
I  have  heretofore  wandered  &  wished  to  see  you 


Colonial  IRotables  239 

there.     Wherever  you  are  &  whatever  you  do,  you 
have  my  good  wishes.     Mrs.  Bernard  joins  with  me 
in  compliments  to  Lady  Ellis. 
IamSr 

Your  most  affectionate  &  faithful  servant, 

FRN.  BERNARD 


It  may  be  true  that  Sir  Francis  merely 
carried  out  a  policy  urged  upon  him  by  the 
Ministry  and  certain  to  arouse  the  colonists 
to  revolt,  but  the  Dictionary  of  National 
Biography  asserts  that  this  policy  not  only 
had  his  complete  approval  but  "he  succeeded 
in  giving  to  its  harsher  features  unnecessary 
prominence. "  ' '  Indeed, ' '  says  his  biographer, 
"the  line  of  action  pursued  by  the  home 
government  was,  to  some  extent,  traceable 
to  his  unfavourable  representations  of  the 
original  designs  and  motives  of  the  colonists, 
and  his  fatal  deficiency  in  political  tact  and 
insight  undoubtedly  assisted  to  hasten  the 
war." 

From  Colonial  governors  to  generals  of  the 
Revolution  is  an  easy  transition.  I  select 
from  the  portfolios  only  three  letters,  for  the 
British  and  American  examples  are  so  numer- 


240    IRambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanb 

ous  that  they  would  occupy  a  volume  by 
themselves.  One  of  the  letters  is  from  that 
high-minded  soldier,  Sir  Guy  Carleton,  who 
was  devoted  to  the  cause  of  England  and  is 
described  as  "firm,  humane,  and  of  the  most 
unvarying  courtesy  under  all  circumstances." 
His  conduct  in  America  was  in  striking  con- 
trast with  that  of  the  Clintons,  Howes,  and 
Burgoyne.  Bancroft  maintains  that  Carleton 
was  the  cause  of  the  failure  of  the  Burgoyne 
campaign;  that  he  originated  the  idea  of  that 
invasion,  in  order  to  gratify  his  personal 
ambition,  and  expecting  to  come  down  from 
Canada  to  assume  general  command  in  the 
colonies,  since  he  ranked  Sir  William  Howe; 
and  that  Howe,  fearing  supersession,  refused  to 
co-operate.  If  that  be  true,  Carleton  rendered 
to  the  Americans  a  service  entitling  him  to 
their  lasting  gratitude;  but  the  explanation 
is  far-fetched  and  fanciful.  Carleton  did 
hope,  at  the  outset,  to  be  assigned  to  command 
the  invading  forces,  but  Germaine,  his  personal 
opponent,  gave  the  honour  to  Burgoyne,  and 
Carleton,  taking  what  George  III.  pronounced 
to  be  "the  only  dignified  part,"  resigned 


Sir  Guy  Carleton 
From  an  etching  by  H.  B.  Hall 


<.6. 


c<^,    '"'?.,   <•«"",/>    <'J' 


f,f^f     f+trt  *'*  ,*.-?i< 


>zv-*»*  *&r'ert 


First  page  of  k  L.  S.  of  Sir  Guy  Carleton  to  General  de  Riedesel,  June  6,  1783 


?riatt*i-  s,n,    *,' fe-e*s-    £-rr 


Last  page  of  a  L.  S.  of  Sir  Guy  Carleton  to  General  de  Riedesel,  June  6,  1783 


Colonial  IRotables  241 

his  office  as  governor  of  Canada.  When 
Lord  North  refused  to  accept  the  resignation, 
Carleton  did  his  whole  duty  and  loyally 
aided  Burgoyne  to  the  utmost.  Howe  had 
no  reason  to  think  that  Carleton,  of  all 
officers,  would  supplant  him.  His  habitual 
inaction  sufficiently  accounts  for  his  conduct. 
This  letter  was  written  to  Baron  von  Riedesel 
while  Carleton  was  in  command  in  New  York, 
after  the  war  was  virtually  over. 

NEW  YORK,  6"  June,  1783. 
SIR. 

In  my  last  to  you  of  the  iyth  of  April  by  Cornet 
Schoenewald  I  informed  you  that  I  had  intended  to 
send  all  the  Brunswick  Troops  to  Canada  by  the 
earliest  opportunity  but  that  the  change  in  public 
affairs  had  rendered  it  impossible  to  spare  transports 
for  that  purpose.  I  notwithstanding  directed  Major 
General  Paterson  to  send  to  Canada  the  clothing, 
camp  equipage,  and  other  stores,  of  which  your  troops 
were  in  want,  and  hope  they  have  arrived  safe  before 
this  time. 

Having  in  the  ist  instant  received  the  King's 
commands,  to  send  to  Europe,  without  delay,  all  the 
German  troops  serving  in  this  Army,  I  am  preparing 
to  comply  therewith  as  soon  as  possible,  and  mean 
to  send  those  belonging  to  the  Duke  of  Brunswick 
in  the  first  Embarkation.  I  have  given  the  like 
directions  respecting  those  now  serving  in  the  district 

16 


242    IRambles  in  Sutograpb  lanfc 

of  Nova  Scotia.  The  whole  will  proceed  to  the  downs 
which  is  the  rendezvous  appointed,  and  where  they 
will  receive  further  orders. 

I  transmit  herewith  a  letter  from  Lord  North  which 
his  Lordship  desired  might  be  forwarded  by  the  first 
opportunity. 

Some  of  the  Brunswick  Prisoners  still  remain  in 
New  England;  measures  have  been  taken  for  their 
speedy  enlargements.  I  shall  say  nothing  more  on  this 
subject  as  Lieutenant  Rienking,  who  is  apprised  of 
the  express  going  to  Canada,  will  give  you  the  fullest 
information  of  every  particular. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most  obedient  and  most  humble  servant, 

GUY  CARLETON 

Major  General  RIEDESEL — 

Another  letter  is  from  that  sterling  patriot 
and  efficient  officer,  Nathanael  Greene.  In 
the  winter  of  1778-79  Washington's  army 
was  encamped  at  Middlebrook,  New  Jersey, 
on  the  Raritan  River,  not  far  from  what  is  now 
Bound  Brook.  Towards  the  end  of  May, 
1779,  news  came  that  the  British  were  about 
to  begin  some  important  enterprise  on  the 
Hudson,  and  the  troops  were  ordered  to  break 
camp  and  proceed  by  way  of  Morristown  to 
the  Highlands.  The  army  began  the  march 
on  June  2,  1779.  A  few  days  before  that, 


Nathanael  Greene 
From  an  engraving  by  R.  Whitechurch,  after  the  painting  by  R.  Peale 


.  (fl^i**^*- 


A.  L.  S.  of  Nathanael  Greene  to  Colonel  James  Abele,  May  25,  1779 


Colonial  IRotables  243 

Greene  writes  to  Colonel  James  Abele,  Deputy 
Quartermaster-General,  who  was  stationed  at 
Morristown: 

CAMP,  May  25,  1779. 
SIR— 

The  General  has  given  me  orders  to  put  the  army 
in  a  state  to  move  if  it  should  be  found  necessary. 
Let  all  the  Markees,  Horseman  and  Wall  Tents  come 
down  as  soon  as  possible;  also  the  Canteens  which 
Mr.  Weese  wrote  for  some  days  since.  Don't  let 
a  moments  time  be  lost  in  sending  forward  the 
stores.  You  will  remember  what  I  have  wrote  you 
respecting  the  General's  orders  should  be  kept  a 
secret  as  the  enemy  may  take  advantage  of  the 
intimation. 

Mrs.  Greene  &  my  compliments  to  Mrs.  Abele. 
I  am  sir 

Your  humble  servt 

N.  GREENE 

Q.M.G. 
Col.  ABELE — 

A  letter  of  Benedict  Arnold  to  Governor 
George  Clinton  possesses  a  peculiar  interest 
because  it  was  written  only  a  month  before 
the  treason  was  discovered.  Arnold  met 
Andre  at  the  Robinson  house  on  the  night  of 
September  21,  1780,  and  Andre  was  captured 
on  the  morning  of  September  23d. 


244    IRambles  in  Hutograpb 


HEADQUARTERS,  ROBINSON'S  HOUSE. 
August  22nd  1780. 

DEAR  SIR: 

In  a  letter  of  yesterday's  date  from  Major  Ville 
Tranche  Engineer  at  these  Posts,  I  am  informed  that 
the  middle  part  of  the  chain  is  sinking  &  in  a  very 
dangerous  situation:  that  unless  it  be  soon  raised  & 
secured  it  will  not  be  in  our  power  to  do  it,  but  at  a 
great  expence  of  labour  &  time.  This  cannot  be  done 
without  timber,  to  haul  which  we  are  not  supplied 
with  teams. 

I  find  it  necessary  also  to  inform  you,  sir,  that  many 
of  the  works  &  public  buildings  at  these  Posts  are  in 
a  ruinous  &  perishing  condition,  and  that  besides 
securing  &  repairing  them,  it  is  not  only  expedient 
but  absolutely  necessary  that  a  number  of  new  bar- 
racks &  buildings  be  erected  &  built  before  cold 
weather  comes  on,  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
troops  who  are  to  remain  in  garrison  here  during  the 
approaching  winter,  without  which  it  will  be  impossi- 
ble to  have  the  Posts  properly  secured. 

I  am  not  furnished  with  half  the  number  of  teams 
for  the  daily  works  of  the  garrison,  altho  I  have 
applied  frequently  to  the  Q.  Master  Genl.  &  to  Colo. 
Hay  to  furnish  them.  In  answer  to  my  applications 
&  pressing  solicitations  on  the  subject,  I  am  informed 
by  the  Quarter  Masters  that  they  have  horses,  but 
neither  carts,  large  waggons,  or  harness  to  spare  for 
me,  nor  money  to  procure  them  with. 

In  this  situation,  sir,  I  am  under  the  necessity  of 
looking  up  to  your  Excellency  for  such  assistance  as 
it  may  be  in  your  power  or  in  that  of  this  State  to 
furnish  me  with,  for  securing  Posts  established  at 


Benedict  Arnold 

From  an  engraving  by  B.  L.  Provost  after  a  drawing  from  life  by 
Du  Simitier 


First  page  of  A.  L.  S.  of  Benedict  Arnold  to  Governor  George  Clinton,  August  22, 

1780 


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Last  page  of  A.  L.  S.  of  Benedict  Arnold  to  Governor  George  Clinton,  August  22, 

1780 


Colonial  1Rotable0  245 

such  amazing  expence  &  which  are  of  such  vast  im- 
portance to  the  United  States  in  general  &  to  this  in 
particular. 

I  therefore  beg  the  favor  of  your  Excellency  to 
grant  to  Colo.  Hay,  Agent  for  the  State,  such  power 
as  may  be  necessary  and  you  enabled  to  vest  him 
with,  for  procuring  by  impress  or  otherwise,  as  many 
teams  as  may  be  necessary  to  carry  on  the  public 
works  to  advantage  here,  or  at  least  sufficient  to 
enable  us  to  secure  those  which  are  now  in  a  decaying 
state  and  to  construct  such  buildings  as  are  indis- 
pensably necessary. 

By  the  late  appointment  of  Colo.  Pickering  to  the 
Quarter  Master  Generalcy  (who  is  not  arrived  in 
camp)  everything  is  become  so  much  deranged  in  that 
Department  as  to  deprive  me  of  all  hopes  of  season- 
able assistance  from  him ;  even  if  he  does  arrive  soon 
&  is  furnished  with  the  necessaries  for  procuring  teams. 

From  this  state  of  facts  your  Excellency  will  be 
enabled  to  judge  of  our  situation  here,  &  doubt  not 
will  furnish  us  with  every  assistance  in  your  power. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  the  greatest  regard 
Your  Excellency's  most  obedt  &  most  hble  servt, 

B.  ARNOLD 

His  Excellency  Govr.  CLINTON. 

While  we  are  on  the  subject  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, a  letter  of  Richard  Henry  Lee  may  be 
quoted : 

BALTIMORE,  17*  Jany,  1777. 

DEAR  SIR  : — I  am  favored  with  yours  by  Majr  Johns- 
ton and  I  should  certainly  have  served  him  to  the 


246    IRambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanb 

utmost  of  my  power  in  Congress  if  the  appointment 
you  proposed  for  Mr.  Johnston  had  not  now  been  in 
another  channel.  You  know,  Sir,  that  by  a  late  re- 
solve of  Congress — the  General  is  to  fill  up  all  vacan- 
cies in  the  Continental  troops  that  shall  happen  for 
six  months  from  the  date  of  the  resolve.  I  have 
recommended  it  to  the  Major  to  get  a  letter  from  you 
and  the  council,  with  one  from  Colonel  Harrison, 
to  the  General  in  his  favor,  and  if  he  is  very  intent 
on  success,  to  carry  them  himself.  I  think  this  will 
not  fail  to  procure  him  the  commission  he  desires, 
and  in  the  mean  time,  the  Lieutenants  and  Ensign 
may  be  recruiting  the  company.  We  have  not 
heard  from  General  Washington  since  the  5th 
instant  when  he  was  at  Morris  Town  in  West  Jersey 
about  20  miles  from  Brunswick  where  the  enemy 
keep  their  head  quarters.  But  a  Gentleman  who 
arrived  here  yesterday,  and  who  passed  thro  our 
army  at  Morris  Town  on  the  8th  says  the  men  were 
in  high  spirits,  that  he  thinks  they  were  12000  strong, 
that  they  were  under  marching  orders  and  they  were 
supposed  to  be  going  towards  Elizabeth  Town,  which 
is  between  the  main  body  of  the  enemy  and  New 
York.  That  Gen.  Heath  was  to  join  them  on  the 
9th  with  between  2  and  5  thousand  men.  That  the 
Jersey  militia  had  many  skirmishes  with  the  British 
troops  and  always  beat  them.  That  he  met  large 
bodies  of  militia  on  march  to  the  Jersies,  whence  he 
concluded  that  the  enemy  must  either  quit  that 
State  soon  or  be  exposed  to  great  danger  by  remain- 
ing there.  Unluckily  our  army  consists  almost  en- 
tirely of  militia  whose  stay  is  very  uncertain,  and 
renders  the  speedy  coming  up  of  regular  troops 


Colonial  Wotables  247 

absolutely  necessary.  I  am  with  very  particular 
regard  and  esteem,  dear  Sir,  your  most  obedient  and 
most  humble  servant, 

RICHARD  HENRY  LEE 

The  fame  of  Lee  ought  to  have  been  more 
permanent.  He  was  honoured  in  Virginia,  he 
was  noted  for  his  eloquence,  and  he  had  all 
the  opportunities  for  achieving  immortality. 
He  moved  the  resolution  for  the  Declaration 
of  Independence.  But  he  seems  to  have 
had  the  unfortunate  habit — which  one  of 
our  great  railway  kings  attributed  to  his  own 
son-in-law — of  "betting  on  the  wrong  horse." 
He  was  of  the  cabal  which  opposed  Washing- 
ton, and  he  was  hostile  to  the  adoption  of  the 
Constitution.  He  had  been  willing  to  take 
office  under  the  odious  Stamp  Law.  In  1776 
he  was  subjected  to  severe  criticism  because, 
anticipating  the  depreciation  of  the  Conti- 
nental money,  he  required  his  tenants  to 
pay  him  in  gold,  silver,  or  tobacco — a  most 
unfortunate  act,  which  nearly  lost  him  his 
seat  in  Congress.  We  are  told  that  "plain, 
solid  common-sense  was  the  distinguishing 
characteristic  of  his  mind,"  but  we  can  scarcely 


248    Gambles  in  Hutosrapb  Xanb 

believe  it  in  view  of  his  actions.  His  reputa- 
tion as  an  orator  was  eclipsed  by  that  of  his 
friend  Patrick  Henry,  who  was1  intellectually 
his  inferior,  although  Henry  was  antagonistic 
to  the  Constitution;  and  his  eminence  as  a 
hero  of  the  Revolution  has  been  dwarfed  by 
that  of  his  great  fellow- Virginian  against 
whom  he  intrigued  persistently  but  unsuccess- 
fully. 

Colonial  governors  and  Revolutionary 
generals  are  well  enough  in  their  way,  but 
the  paths  of  literature  are  to  me  more  attrac- 
tive than  those  of  colonial  history.  American 
literary  autographs  may  not  be  so  expensive 
as  English  ones,  but  many  of  them  are  fully 
as  interesting.  The  first  ones  I  find  before 
me  are  those  of  Bret  Harte,  whose  letters 
and  manuscripts  are  becoming  objects  of 
special  concern,  if  we  may  judge  by  the  present 
prices  they  command. 

A  Life  of  Bret  Harte  published  within  the 
past  year  or  so  is  well  written  but  it  is  quite 
disappointing.  It  might  well  be  called 
"Sketches  of  Early  Days  in  California  with 
incidental  references  to  Bret  Harte,"  and  it 


Colonial  notables  249 

leaves  an  unpleasant  impression  of  the  char- 
acter and  career  of  the  subject.  The  Life  by 
T.  Edgar  Pemberton,  published  in  1903,  is 
much  more  satisfactory  in  my  way  of  thinking, 
although  it  may  not  be  constructed  so  scien- 
tifically as  its  successor.  One  paragraph  in 
Pemberton's  book  is  especially  amusing  to  a 
collector.  Reference  is  made  to  a  story  that 
while  Harte  was  living  at  Morristown  he  re- 
tained the  postage  stamps  sent  to  him  by 
people  seeking  his  autograph  and  that  these 
applications  were  so  numerous  that  with  the 
stamps  thus  obtained  he  paid  his  butcher's  bill. 
Mr.  Pemberton  adds  that  "that  slander  has 
been  denied  on  the  authority  of  the  butcher." 

"The  Luck  of  Roaring  Camp"  first  ap- 
peared in  the  Overland  Monthly  for  August, 
1868.  Mr.  Pemberton  says: 

After  it  was  printed  the  return  mail  from  the  East 
brought  a  letter  addressed  to  the  "  Editor  of  The 
Overland  Monthly"  enclosing  a  letter  from  Fields, 
Osgood  &  Co.,  the  publishers  of  The  Atlantic  Monthly, 
addressed  to  the — to  them — unknown  author  of  "  The 
Luck  of  Roaring  Camp . ' '  This  the  author  opened ,  and 
found  to  be  a  request,  upon  the  most  flattering  terms, 
for  a  story  for  the  Atlantic  similar  to  the  "  Luck." 


250    'Ramblee  in  Hutograpb  Xanb 

Although  this  assertion  is  made  on  the  author- 
ity of  Harte  himself,  I  venture  to  doubt 
whether  the  proposal  of  Field,  'Osgood  &  Co. 
followed  so  quickly  the  appearance  of  the 
story  in  the  Overland.  This  letter  written 
at  least  seven  months  later  than  the  publica- 
tion of  the  "Luck"  is  not  quite  consistent  with 
the  idea  of  such  an  early  application. 

ROOMS  OF  THE  OVERLAND  MONTHLY. 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  April  23,  1869. 
GENTLEMEN: 

In  regard  to  your  proposal  to  examine  a  collection 
of  my  California  Sketches  with  a  view  to  republica- 
tion,  I  fear  that  you  have  overestimated  the  number 
of  my  contributions  to  the  Overland,  wh.  are  (of 
stories)  but  two — "The  Luck  of  Roaring  Camp"  and 
"The  Outcasts  of  Poker  Flat,"  the  latter  one  in  the 
Jany.  no. 

I  am  writing  a  little  sketch  similar  in  style  for  the 
June  no.  and  have  in  view  three  or  four  more,  when 
the  pressure  of  my  editorial  duties  shall  be  lifted 
either  by  the  suspension  of  the  Magazine  or  a  division 
of  its  editorial  work — which  since  the  inception  of 
the  O.  M.  has  fallen  entirely  on  me.  One  or  the 
other  will  happen  about  the  ist  June. 

I  have  one  or  two  California  sketches  published 
before  (but  not  in  the  Overland}  and  not  included  in 
the  "Condensed  Novels,"  but  even  these  would  not, 
together  with  the  "Luck"  and  the  "Outcasts"  make 
a  volume  of  the  size  suggested. 


.  Colonial  IRo  tables  251 

As  my  contract  with  Carleton  of  N.  Y.  expired 
with  his  first  and  only  edition  of  the  "Condensed 
Novels"  (1500  copies)  would  it  not  be  possible  to 
translate  one  or  two  sketches  from  that? 

Will  you  be  good  enough  to  tell  me  also  what  the 
Atlantic  would  pay  for  stories  like  these  proposed. 

Yours  very  truly, 

FR.  BRET  HARTE 
MESSRS.  FIELDS,  OSGOOD  &  Co. 

BOSTON — 


Still,  it  is  possible  that  Harte  waited  for 
seven  months  before  troubling  himself  to  find 
out  what  price  he  would  get  for  a  story.  He 
was  charmingly  careless  about  money  matters. 

We  are  told  by  his  biographer  that  "one  of 
the  horrors  of  his  existence  was  the  omni- 
present autograph  hunter,"  and  that  in  the 
closing  days  of  his  life,  when  asked  by  a  young 
lady  of  the  Pemberton  household  to  whom  he 
could  not  well  say  no,  to  sign  his  name  in  her 
"troublesome  friend's  still  more  troublesome 
birthday  book,"  he  complied,  saying,  "Tell 
that  young  woman  I  hate,  loathe,  and  de- 
spise her."  In  his  failing  hours  a  letter  came 
from  a  member  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  family 
making  a  somewhat  similar  request.  At  the 


252    IRambles  in  Hutograpb  Hant> 

moment,  he  condemned  it,  with  the  scores  of 
such  applications,  to  the  wastepaper  basket," 
and  then  he  said,  "No!  that  may  be  from  a 
child.  I  '11  send  my  signature." 

It  may  be  a  heinous  offence,  but  to  me  the 
"poetry"  of  Whittier  has  always  appeared 
to  be  of  no  high  order  of  merit.  He  may  have 
been  a  person  of  beautiful  character,  although 
he  was  guilty  of  atrocious  injustice  towards 
Daniel  Webster  in  that  famous  poem  called 
Ichabod.  In  his  Abolition  rage  and  fanati- 
cism he  did  not  scruple  to  proclaim  a  wretched 
libel  upon  a  noble  statesman;  and  while  he 
was  afterwards  a  little  ashamed  of  his  per- 
formance, he  never  had  courage  enough  to 
say  so  publicly.  A  letter  of  his  exhibits  him 
as  a  truly  disinterested  patriot,  who  had 
"always  voted  the  Republican  ticket  entire" 
regardless  of  principles  or  the  qualifications 
of  candidates,  begging  for  a  little  political 
pap.  It  is  not  surprising  to  learn  that  in  his 
younger  days,  when  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Massachusetts  Legislature,  he  was  a  vigorous 
political  plotter  and  had  "large  faith  in  his 
lobbying  capacity." 


Colonial  "Notables  253 

NEWBURYPORT,  gth  n  mo  1876 — 

BEN  :J  PERLEY  POORE  Esq. 
MY  DEAR  FRIEND: — 

I  am  very  sorry  I  was  not  at  home  when  thee  called 
with  thy  English  friend.  I  fully  intended  before 
this  to  have  visited  thee,  but  I  have  had  company 
all  the  time  &  have  often  been  too  ill  to  leave  home. 

I  am  glad  the  election  is  over;  and  glad  that  the 
Democratic  has  ceased  to  be  formidable.  As  I 
always  have  done  I  voted  the  Republican  ticket 
entire  but  not  without  some  fear  that  the  over- 
whelming majority  may  be  taken  as  endorsement  of 
all  abuses  and  errors.  I  like  the  speech  of  General 
Hawley.  If  his  advice  is  taken  all  will  be  well. 

My  brother  M.  F.  Whittier  who  is  a  clerk  in  the 
Boston  C.  H.  fears  that  he  may  lose  his  place — one 
of  the  hardest  and  most  respectable  in  the  concern, — 
if  rotation  is  decided  upon.  He  is  a  staunch  republi- 
can &  has  done  good  service  with  his  pen  by  his  letters 
of  "Ethan  Spike  of  Hornley."  Of  his  faithfulness 
and  ability  in  his  place,  Mr.  Hamlin  will  vouch. 
Will  it  be  asking  too  much  of  thee  to  speak  to  Gen. 
Wilson  about  him,  &  to  request  him  to  say  a  word 
to  Judge  Russell  in  his  behalf?  I  should  esteem  it  a 
great  favor  &  if  it  is  ever  in  my  power  will  reciprocate 
it.  Believe  me  very  truly  thy  frd, 

JOHN  G.  WHITTIER 

1  It  will  be  remembered  that  Mr.  Poore  affected  the  quaint 
conceit  of  putting  the  colon  punctuation  mark  after  Ben,  and 
the  newspapers  and  his  friends  were  careful  to  respect  the  idio- 
syncrasy. Mr.  Poore  explained  the  usage  on  the  ground  that 
his  Christian  name  was  not  Benjamin,  but  merely  Ben.  Even 
then,  why  the  colon? 


254    IRambles  in  Hutograpb  %anb 

My  brother  has  the  general  charge  of  the  monthly 
returns  to  Washington,  of  the  entire  accounts  of  the 
Collector  and  Cashier.  He  has  averaged  six  hours 
of  hard  labor  per  day  and  has  been  absent  not  above 
2  days  in  a  year.  Mr.  Slack  of  the  Commonwealth 
and  Dep.  Coll.  Fisk  can  give  thee  any  information 
concerning  him. 

Like  most  high-minded  partisans  of  his 
type,  he  makes  his  brother's  party  services 
the  main  basis  for  his  retention  in  office, 
relegating  the  fraternal  merits  as  a  clerk — 
with  his  six  hours  a  day  of  "hard  labor" — 
to  a  postscript.  His  rejoicings  over  the  fact 
that  "the  Democratic  [sic]  has  ceased  to  be 
formidable  "  were  a  little  premature,  for  the  let- 
ter was  penned  only  a  few  days  after  the  date 
on  which,  as  every  one  knows,  Mr.  Tilden 
received  a  majority  of  the  electoral  vote 
over  Mr.  Hayes ;  and  as  almost  every  one  now 
concedes,  Mr.  Tilden  was  deprived  of  his 
office  by  rather  disreputable  devices,  doubtless 
with  the  cordial  approval  of  the  poet  whose 
brother's  place  in  the  Custom  House  was  at 
stake. 

Bayard  Taylor  was  not  a  New  Englander; 
he  was  not  a  professional  Abolitionist ;  he  was 


Colonial  Iftotables  255 

not  a  reckless  defamer  of  men  who,  in  all 
sincerity  and  good  faith,  considered  the  peace 
of  the  whole  country  and  the  maintenance 
of  its  Constitution  to  be  of  paramount  im- 
portance compared  with  the  liberation  of 
the  negroes  of  the  Southern  States;  but  he 
was  a  noble  figure  in  our  literary  history  and 
honoured  in  public  as  well  as  in  private  life. 
There  is  more  poetic  fire  in  a  line  of  the 
Bedouin  Love  Song  than  in  all  the  placid 
volumes  of  the  Quaker  poet,  and  the  broad 
field  of  his  culture  dwarfs  into  insignificance 
Whittier's  little  rocky  patch.  No  one  can 
fancy  Taylor  drivelling  in  the  thin  sentiment 
of  "Maud  Muller"  or  the  pseudo-patriot- 
ism of  "Barbara  Frietchie."  This  letter  to 
Professor  Willard  Fiske  of  Cornell  University 
deals  with  the  subject  of  political  patronage, 
but  affords  a  pleasant  contrast  with  the  letter 
of  Whittier. 

142  EAST  i8xH  ST.  NEW  YORK. 

Feb.  23, 1878. 
Confidential. 
MY  DEAR  FISKE  : 

Boyesen  has  just  been  here,  and  brought  me  later 
news  of  you — the  tide  of  congratulation  has  not  yet 


256    IRambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanfc 

ceased.  I  have  written  somewhere  about  125  ac- 
knowledgments since  Sunday  last — and  still  they 
come ! 

I  have  already  had  about  25  applications  for 
Secretaryships,  when  I  have  none  to  give ;  the  simple 
facts  are  these: — the  present  Administration  reserves 
to  itself  the  right  to  make  all  subordinate  appoint- 
ments; when  Bancroft  Davis  resigned,  the  two  places 
at  Berlin  were  filled  by  the  President,  Sidney  Everett 
(Edward  E's  son)  getting  the  first  rank ; — so  there  is 
no  vacancy,  and  if  there  were,  I  have  not  the  sole 
power  to  fill  it.  Lowell,  for  instance,  wanted  young 
Henry  James  for  his  secretary;  but  the  government 
appointed  another  man. 

Now,  between  ourselves,  I  suspect  that  Everett 
(who  is  said  to  be  in  good  circumstances,  and  who 
lives  in  England)  simply  wants  the  social  prestige 
of  the  place.  He  has  been  charge  d' Affaires  for  seven 
months  and  will  not  relish  being  remanded  to  a  lower 
position  after  I  reach  Berlin.  Of  course,  this  is  only 
surmise  on  my  part,  but  all  I  hear  of  Mr.  E.  makes 
it  probable. 

Should  he  resign,  would  you  take  the  place?  I 
have  thought  of  you,  in  connection  with  it,  from  the 
very  first, — and  I  cannot  fix  upon  anybody  else  who 
is  at  once  so  competent  and  so  welcome  to  me  in  all 
respects.  I  could  not  make  the  appointment,  but 
I  should  do  my  best  to  have  it  made  by  the  President, 
and  I  feel  sure  that  it  could  be  accomplished.  In 
any  case,  I  should  know  Mr.  E's  intentions  in  advance 
of  anybody  else,  and  thus  get  your  name  first  before 
the  appointing  powers.  The  salary  is  $2625. 

I  don't  believe  that  Boyesen  could,  in  any  case,  get 


Bayard  Taylor 


Colonial  IRotablee  257 

the  First  Secretary's  place;  and  the  Second  Secretary 
at  Berlin  is  likely  to  stay  on,  since  he  loses  nothing 
by  my  coming.  I  should  prefer  Boyesen  to  anybody 
but  you;  but,  in  case  of  a  vacancy,  I  am  sure  you  could 
be  appointed,  and  if  I  should  ask  for  Boyesen  there 
would  be  the  chance  of  having  some  unknown  and 
perhaps  incompetent  man  in  his  stead. 

I  am  writing  as  if  sure  of  my  own  confirmation — 
which  is  perhaps  indiscreet.  However,  I  only  get 
good  news  from  Washington.  Evarts  writes  to  me 
that  it  will  not  be  delayed;  but  I  can't  go  to  Washing- 
ton until  afterwards.  Please  let  me  know,  soon,  how 
my  proposal  strikes  you. 

Ever  faithfully, 

BAYARD  TAYLOR. 

Another  letter,  to  Osgood,  has  a  more 
literary  flavour. 

KENNETT  SQUARE,  PENN'A. 

Dec.  17,  1870. 
Personal — 
MY  DEAR  OSGOOD: 

I  left  in  such  hurry  on  Thursday  morning  that  I 
had  no  time  to  give  you  more  than  a  very  hasty 
assurance  of  my  readiness  to  transfer  to  the  new  firm 
all  the  good-will  and  friendly  interest  which,  for 
sixteen  years  past,  I  have  felt  for  the  old  one.  It  is 
just  twenty-four  years  since  I  have  known  Fields. 
He  was  the  next  after  Griswold  and  Willis  to  speak  a 
most  welcome  word  for  my  first  book,  and  I  have  never 
found  any  one  since  more  frank,  patient  and  apprecia- 
tive (qualities  not  often  combined!)  than  he.  Hence 

17 


258    IRambles  in  Hutograpb  Uanfc 

I  shall  miss  him  from  his  old  place,  until  I  get  cccus- 
tomed  to  the  change;  but  you  can  understand  this 
implies  not  the  least  lack  of  friendly  confidence  in 
his  successors.  Since  the  change 'must  be  made,  I, 
for  my  part,  could  not  wish  a  more  satisfactory  one. 
I  do  not  believe  in  mutual  interest  without  mutual 
esteem  and  trust;  and  I  assure  you  now  that  I  still 
look  forward  to  the  day  when  I  shall  be  able  to  unite 
my  separated  books  under  one  imprint,  and  that 
yours. 

I  think  there  are  signs  that  the  long  darkness 
succeeding  the  war  is  about  passing  away,  and  literary 
interests — always  the  last  to  revive — will  gradually 
improve.  Our  best  age  is  yet  to  come,  and  I  hope 
and  believe  that  it  will  come  while  you  and  your 
associates  can  share  in  it.  As  an  author,  I  wish,  of 
course,  to  have  an  equal  share! 

Will  you  please  order  sent  to  me,  by  express,  a 
handsome  half-calf  copy  of  Faust,  instead  of  the  two 
remaining  copies.  I  want  to  give  it  to  my  wife  on 
Christmas  Eve,  and  am  therefore  anxious  to  get  it 
in  season. 

Always  truly  yours, 
BAYARD  TAYLOR 


/*~^<*~4*S*L 


4  k 


^u_          /2,-^^w^ 


Xc; 


First  page  of  A.  L.  S.  (3  pages)  of  Bayard  Taylor  to  James  R.  Osgood,  December  17, 

1870 


CHAPTER  XIII 

AMERICAN  AUTHORS 

Bancroft  to  Taylor — Holmes  to  Taylor — Holmes  to  Underwood 
— Mark  Twain  to  Taylor — Longfellow  to  Taylor — Lowell 
to  Taylor — Motley  to  Badeau — A  Hawthorne  letter — 
Aldrich  to  George  P.  Morris — Artemus  Ward — Noah  Webster 
— Charles  G.  Halpine — Chief  Justice  Chase. 

MEN  may  often  be  judged  by  the  letters 
that  are  written  to  them  as  well  as  by  those 
they  write  themselves.  The  cordial  esti- 
mation in  which  the  big-hearted  Bayard 
Taylor  was  held  by  his  contemporaries  in 
literature  is  abundantly  shown  in  their  letters 
to  him,  some  of  which  I  have  been  fortunate 
enough  to  acquire.  I  have  quoted  those  of 
Tennyson  and  Christina  Rossetti,  and  am 
tempted  to  add  some  Americans.  There  is 
one  from  George  Bancroft.  When  we  recall 
that  the  famous  historian  was  in  early  life 

possessed  of  the  delusion  th,at  he  too  was  a 

259 


1Ramble0  in  Hutograpb 


poet,  it  has  a  humorous  suggestion.  Ban- 
croft's slim  volume  of  awkward  and  boyish 
verse,  if  it  may  be  dignified  with  that  name, 
appeared  in  1823  and  was  thereafter  carefully 
suppressed,  so  that  it  has  become  a  veritable 
"rarity."  The  Century  Club  in  New  York 
celebrated  the  seventieth  birthday  of  Bryant 
on  the  night  of  November  I,  1864,  and 
Bancroft  presided  over  a  notable  gathering 
honoured  by  the  presence  of  Emerson  and  of 
Holmes.  Taylor's  ode,  sung  to  music  com- 
posed by  Louis  Lang,  then  a  well-known 
artist  of  New  York,  was  "one  of  the  features,  " 
as  the  reporters  may  have  said.  It  had  been 
submitted  to  Bancroft,  and  his  proposed 
amendments  may  have  been  logical  and  proper 
enough,  but  one  cannot  help  feeling  that  the 
real  poet  was  better  able  to  decide  what  was  ap- 
propriate. For  example,  the  idea  of  a  change 
from  the  past  tense  to  the  present  is  more  in 
the  spirit  of  the  historian  than  in  that  of  the 
poet.  This  is  what  Bancroft  wrote: 

Saturday,  29  Oct.  '64. 

DEAR  MR.  TAYLOR  — 

Mr.  Lang  has  just  left  with    me  your  chant  for 


Hmertcan  Hutbors  261 

Bryant's  7oth  birthday.  It  is  admirable;  I  expected 
good  from  you;  &  you  have  done  exceedingly  well. 
You  need  never  regret  that  you  made  this  most 
successful  effort. 

With  your  consent  I  propose  to  read  stanza  V  and 
VI  in  the  present  tense;  as  Bryant  still  writes;  "He 
sings  of  mountains";  "But  hears  a  voice";  "which 
says";  &  stanza  VI — He  sings  of  truth;  He  sings  of 
right ;  He  sings  of  freedom. 

You  are  too  modest.  You  poets  are  never  of  the 
past. 

The  Vllth  stanza  is  probably  clear  to  one  familiar 
with  Bryant's  poem.  If  we  print  it  I  will  in  the 
margin  quote  one  or  two  of  the  lines  you  refer  to  as 
Bryant's  prophecy.  I  delight  always  in  suggestions 
from  my  friends,  claiming  always  a  right  to  disregard 
them.  May  I  make  a  suggestion,  even  if  probably 
to  find  that  the  change  had  occurred  to  your  own 
mind?  &  been  rejected. 

Stanza  VII 

God  bid  him  live,  till  in  her  place 

Truth  crushed  to  earth  again  shall  rise 

The  "mother  of  a  mighty  race" 
Fulfil  her  poet's  prophecies. 

The  former  suggestion  as  to  present  tense  in  stanzas 
V  &  VI  I  feel  sure  about;  this  I  doubt  about;  that  is, 
I  think  again  shall  rise  is  better  than  shall  risen  be; 
but  prophecies  in  the  plural  for  the  rhyme  is  no  im- 
provement on  the  singular  "prophecy." 

Again  I  say,  that  I  am  very  much,  indeed  very  much 
delighted  with  your  chant,  &  shall  not  make  the  changes 


262    IRamblee  in  Hutograpb 


of  tense  or  in  Stanza  7  without  your  special  consent 
&  desire. 

Yours  very  truly, 

GEO  BANCROFT 

No  one  knows  or  will  know  of  these  trifling  sugges- 
tions. Let  me  hear  from  you  by  return  mail. 

Holmes  writes  in  a  characteristically  genial 
and  affectionate  way.  The  dream  may  have 
been  only  a  pleasant  fiction,  but  the  method 
of  expressing  kindly  appreciation  of  a  poem 
was  surely  a  novel  and  a  graceful  one. 

BOSTON,  Sept.  ist,  1875. 
MY  DEAR  TAYLOR, 

I  must  tell  you  something  very  odd.  Yesterday 
morning  when  I  woke  up  I  had  been  having  an  absurd 
dream.  I  was  walking  in  Washington  Street,  when 
all  at  once  you,  Bayard  Taylor,  ampler  in  dimensions 
than  your  actual  goodly  personality,  seized  me  and 
carried  me  as  Gulliver  might  have  carried  a  Lilli- 
putian a  few  rods  and  then  set  me  down,  surprised, 
but  unharmed  and  not  feeling  aggrieved  by  the 
familiar  treatment  to  which  I  had  been  subjected. 

The  dream  had  hardly  ceased  vibrating  in  my  mem- 
ory when  on  coming  down  stairs  I  took  my  Daily 
Advertiser  and  there  you  were  again,  almost  the 
first  thing  I  laid  my  eyes  on!  Lo,  I  was  taken  up 
again  by  you  and  carried  through  your  brilliant 
and  lofty  poem  in  the  arms  of  your  imagination. 

Was   my   dream   a   premonition   of   the   pleasure 


Oliver  Wendell  Holmes 


Last  page  of  A.  L.  S.  (2  pages)  of  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  to  Bayard  Taylor,  September  i,  1875 


Hmerican  Hutbors  263 

awaiting  me?  I  have  had  pleasant  waking  hours  with 
you  but  I  do  not  remember  ever  dreaming  about  you 
before.  The  coincidence  seemed  to  me  too  curious 
to  pass  unnoticed. 

Always  truly  yours, 
O.  W.  HOLMES 

Another  letter  of  the  Autocrat  may  be 
given  here,  although  it  is  not  to  Taylor  but  to 
Francis  H.  Underwood,  the  assistant  editor  of 
the  Atlantic  Monthly  during  the  first  two 
years  of  its  existence,  and  later  the  successor 
of  Bret  Harte  as  consul  at  Glasgow ;  he  was 
a  man  of  fine  literary  sense  and  critical  skill, 
whose  published  writings,  refined  and  schol- 
arly, lacked  the  qualities  which  insure  fame 
and  popularity.  The  novel  referred  to  in  the 
letter  was  a  story  of  Kentucky  life,  called 
Lord  of  Himself. 

296  BEACON  ST. 
June  1 7th  1874. 

MY  DEAR  MR.  UNDERWOOD — 

It  seems  so  like  old  times  to  find  you  writing  stories 
again  that  I  felt  fifteen  years  younger  when  I  took 
up  your  book  which  you  were  so  kind  as  to  send  me. 
I  commonly  thank  my  friends  before  reading  their 
works, — once  in  a  while  after  finishing  them.  But 
while  I  am  in  the  midst  of  your  story  no  less  than 


264    "Rambles  in  Hutosrapfo  %aiti> 

sixty  manuscripts  of  twenty  pages  more  or  less  each, 
students'  examination  books,  are  tumbled  in  upon  me 
and  must  be  immediately  attended  to.  I  cannot 
wait  any  longer  without  thanking  you  for  your  kind- 
ness in  remembering  me  and  assuring  you  of  the 
interest  with  which  I  am  following  your  characters 
through  the  incidents  which  you  know  so  well  how 
to  manage,  and  in  seeing  through  your  eyes  a  manner 
of  life  of  which  I  have  only  once  had  a  brief  glimpse 
with  my  own. 

I  cannot  help  flattering  myself  with  the  idea  that 
I  see  how  things  are  coming  out,  and  I  shall  be  very 
much  disappointed  if  the  right  young  man  does  not 
come  by  his  own  and  get  the  right  girl  before  I  come 
to  Finis.  I  think  I  can  see  that  much  of  what  you 
delineate  is  a  genuine  study  from  life — a  strange  life 
enough  for  us  New  Englanders  to  contemplate  but 
as  real  as  a  New  Hampshire  farmer's. 

I  lay  down  your  novel  reluctantly  to  take  up  the 
first  of  this  frightful  heap  of  manuscripts  and  if  when 
I  take  it  up  again  I  find  you  have  treated  any  of  my 
friends  unfairly — of  course  the  best  thing  you  could 
do  with  poor  old  "  Milly  "  was  to  send  her  to  a  better 
world — I  shall  call  you  to  account.  An  author  must 
remember  that  the  children  of  his  brain  are  real  to  other 
people,  and  treat  them  accordingly.  I  think  I  can  trust 
you  with  your  offspring  but  I  must  wait  and  see. 
With  a  thousand  thanks  and  kind  remembrances,  I  am 

Faithfully  yours — 

O.  W.  HOLMES 

Mark  Twain's  note  to  Taylor  is  not   of 
much  literary  interest,  but  it  has  a  Twainish 


n       


Samuel  Langhorne  Clemens 
From  the  engraving  by  T.  Cole  after  the  painting  by  A.  H.  Thayer 


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Hmerican  Hutbore  265 

ring  and  it  affords  a  glimpse  of  one  of  his  best 
traits,  a  fondness  for  young  people  and  a 
disposition  to  contribute  to  their  amusement 
and  instruction. 

HARTFORD,  Wednesday— 
MY  DEAR  MR.  TAYLOR: 

Good — we  shall  look  for  you  3ist.  I  think  I  told 
you  I  was  a  sort  of  father  to  our  Young  Girls'  Club 
here  &  asked  you  to  give  them  an  hour's  talk,  or  read 
one  of  your  poems  to  them  in  my  house  some  time. 
They  are  charming  lasses  of  16  to  20  yrs.  old.  They 
number  something  over  a  dozen.  Boyesen,  Harte, 
Fields,  Warner  &  I  have  talked  to  them  &  Howells 
and  Hawley  have  promised.  Can  you  stay  over  & 
entertain  them  Saturday  morning?  Or  Friday  morn- 
ing if  you  can't  spare  so  much  time?  N.  Y.  train 
does  n't  leave  here  till  afternoon.  I  hope  you  can 
&  will. 

Yrs  truly, 
S.  L.  CLEMENS 

When  Hiawatha  appeared,  Taylor  wrote  to 
Longfellow  and  made  what  Higginson  calls 
"the  best  single  encomium  on  the  book," 
saying,  "the  whole  poem  floats  in  an  atmos- 
phere of  the  American  'Indian  summer.' ' 
Longfellow's  letter  shows  that  he  sent  to 
Taylor  advance  sheets  of  The  Divine  Tragedy, 
which  was  not  published  until  December  12, 


266    "Rambles  in  autograph  Uanfc 

1871.  The  amiable  Taylor  may  have  ex- 
pressed a  "generous  judgment"  about  it,  but 
it  was  a  dull  and  tedious  performance,  and 
the  Christus,  of  which  it  constitutes  the  first 
part,  and  which  appeared  as  a  whole  in  1872, 
was  not  a  work  on  which  rests  the  fame  of  its 
author;  although  we  learn  from  his  diary  and 
from  his  biographies  that  he  had  been  absorbed 
in  it  during  many  years  and  that  it  was  his 
own  favourite.  It  is  worthy  of  notice  that 
two  personages  as  unlike  as  Longfellow  and 
Jackson,  the  learned  and  scholarly  professor 
and  the  rough  and  unlettered  soldier,  should 
have  been  troubled  by  the  spelling  of  sub- 
stantially the  same  word,  for  General  Jackson 
writes  ' '  dificulty ' '  and  Longfellow  ' '  dificult . ' ' 

Cambr.  Nov.  23,  1871. 
MY  DEAR  TAYLOR — 

I  have  to-day  received  your  letter  of  Sunday,  and 
hasten  to  thank  you  for  your  generous  judgment  of 
my  new  book.  It  is,  I  assure  you,  extremely  gratify- 
ing to  me ;  and  makes  me  feel  that  I  have  not  wholly 
failed  in  treating  a  rather  dificult  [sic]  subject. 

By  to-day's  post  I  send  you  the  Interludes  and 
Finale,  connecting  and  completing  the  whole  work, 
presuming  that  Osgood  told  you  something  of  my 
plan,  and  that  this  new  book  is  only  the  First  Part  of  a 


QA/X~VJ 


Henry  Wadsworth  Longfellow 
From  the  engraving  by  S.  Hollyer 


Q 


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First  page  of  A.  L.  S.  of  Henry  Wadsworth  Longfellow  to  Bayard  Taylor,  November  23, 

1871 


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Last  page  of  A.  L.  S.  of  Henry  Wadsworth  Longfellow  to  Bayard  Taylor,  November 

23,  1871 


Hmerican  Hutbors  267 

work,  of  which  the  Golden  Legend  and  the  New 
England  Tragedies  are  the  Second  and  Third;  and 
which,  when  the  three  parts  are  published  together, 
is  to  be  entitled  "Christus."  This  is  a  very  old 
design  of  mine,  formed  before  the  Legend  was  written. 

The  "Introitas"  belongs  to  the  book  as  a  whole; 
and  its  proper  pendant  or  correlative  is  not  the 
"Epilogue"  of  this  first  part,  but  the  "Finale," 
which  I  send  you  to-day.  This  will  explain  the 
seeming  want  of  proportion  and  balance  which  you 
have  noted. 

With  kind  remembrances   to   your  wife,   who  is 
always  most  kindly  remembered  by  all  of  us, 
Yours  faithfully, 

HENRY  W.  LONGFELLOW 

From  Lowell's  letter  I  am  obliged  to  omit 
the  Latin  quotation  because  I  cannot  make 
it  all  out  and  I  am  not  sufficiently  familiar 
with  Seneca  to  supply  the  illegible  words. 
Lowell's  handwriting  had  a  fair  appearance 
but,  like  Mirabeau's,  was  more  pleasant  to 
look  upon  than  easy  to  decipher.  The  war 
to  which  he  alludes  was,  of  course,  the  Franco- 
Prussian. 

ELMWOOD,  24th  August,  1870. 
MY  DEAR  TAYLOR — 

The  passage  you  ask  about  is  from  Seneca.  .  .  . 
I  should  be  very  glad  to  refresh  my  very  agreeable 
memories  of  Chester  County  &  its  kindly  people 


268    IRambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanb 

after  an  interval  of  (bless  me!)  a  quarter  of  a  century 
— but  I  fear  it  is  quite  out  of  the  question  at  present. 
I  think  it  would  be  an  excellent  thing  for  Mr.  Hughes 
to  do  &  shall  advise  him  accordingly.  How  long 
he  will  stay  with  me  or  when  he  will  come  I  know  not. 
The  newspapers  always  know  more  of  our  affairs 
than  ourselves.  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  your  Faust 
is  coming  so  soon.  I  doubt  not  it  will  do  you  &  us 
honor.  The  next  time  you  are  so  near,  remembei 
that  it  is  always  cool  in  my  library.  I  allow  no 
contemporary  heats  to  enter  there. 

Always  very  truly  yours, 

J.  R.  LOWELL 

Pray  make  my  remembrances  acceptable  to  Mrs 
Taylor,  who  must  be  feeling  proud  of  her  countrymen. 
But  what  an  awful  war! 

When  John  Lothrop  Motley  wrote  the  fol- 
lowing letter  to  Adam  Badeau,  he  had  just  re- 
tired from  the  Austrian  mission  after  a  serious 
unpleasantness  with  the  Johnson  Adminis- 
tration, and  General  Grant  was  President 
elect.  In  all  probability,  after  his  disagree- 
able experience  with  the  incoming  Administra- 
tion two  years  later,  when  he  retired  from  the 
English  mission,  he  would  not  have  expressed 
himself  so  admiringly  about  Grant.  Without 
discussing  the  rights  and  wrongs  of  his  differ- 
ences with  his  home  government,  we  may  be 


James  Russell  Lowell 


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First  page  of  k.  L.  S.  of  James  Russell  Lowell  to  Bayard  Taylor,  August  24,  1870 


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Last  page  of  A.  L.  S.  of  James  Russell  Lowell  to  Bayard  Taylor,  August  24,  1870 


Bmerican  Hutbors  269 

permitted  to  doubt  whether  he  was  fitted  to 
represent  the  United  States  at  a  foreign  court 
during  those  uneasy  times.  Diplomatic 
positions  were  once  regarded  as  eminently 
suited  for  literary  men,  possibly  because 
authors  were  supposed  to  be  unfit  for  any 
other  kind  of  public  office ;  and  it  may  be  that 
they  are  well  enough  adapted  to  the  work 
when  there  is  little  to  be  done  except  to  be 
graceful,  scholarly,  and  courteous,  to  attend 
high  social  functions,  and  to  say  a  few  appro- 
priate words  at  banquets.  But  they  are  apt 
to  be  sensitive  and  impracticable  and  in  times 
of  stress  they  are  surely  out  of  their  element. 
Motley  had  a  fine  sense  of  superiority  over 
the  vulgarians  who  ruled  at  Washington  but 
he  did  not  possess  enough  tact  or  adaptability 
to  conceal  it;  and  moreover  he  seemed  to 
lose  his  Americanism,  which  is  a  bad  thing 
for  an  American  minister  to  lose.  One  who  is 
acquainted  with  his  personal  life  and  char- 
acteristics may  well  wonder  that  the  favourable 
consideration  of  Mrs.  General  Grant  should 
have  flattered  him  so  greatly ;  but  then  there 
may  have  been  hopes  of  another  foreign 


270    IRambles  in  Hutoarapb  Xanb 

mission,  and  a  quarrel  with  Andrew  Johnson 
was  not  a  bad  recommendation  to  Ulysses  S. 
Grant.  I  am  doubtful  whether  Mrs.  Grant 
devoted  much  time  to  the  perusal  of  the  "Ad- 
dress" to  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  if 
he  ever  sent  her  a  copy;  and  truth  to  tell,  I 
do  not  blame  her  if  she  did  not  read  it  at  all. 

2  PARK  STREET,  BOSTON,  24  Dec.  '68. 
MY  DEAR  GENERAL  BADEAU  : — 

Your  kind  note  of  28  Nov.  has  remained  unanswered 
until  now,  because  I  have  been  absent  from  home 
during  the  last  twelve  days.  I  had  the  privilege 
of  making  General  Grant's  acquaintance  during  his 
visit  to  Boston,  of  meeting  him  at  dinner  time  &  on 
other  occasions,  &  I  shall  not  permit  myself  to  say 
more  than  to  express  the  hope  that  he  liked  Boston 
only  half  as  well  as  Boston  was  delighted  with  him. 
In  that  case  we  shall  all  be  deeply  gratified.  Massa- 
chusetts is  sometimes  thought  a  cold  place  but  I  am 
sure  he  must  have  found  it  glowing  towards  him. 

I  had  hoped  to  make  a  brief  visit  to  Washington, 
after  my  engagements  in  New  York  were  fulfilled 
but  we  have  always  kept  Christmas  faithfully  in  our 
family  &  as  this  is  the  first  anniversary  of  it  for  a  long 
time  that  I  could  be  with  them  all,  I  am  obliged  to 
postpone  my  visit  until  about  the  middle  of  January 
&  I  have  just  written  to  Mr.  Hooper  to  this  effect. 

I  was  very  much  flattered  that  Mrs.  Grant  honored 
me  so  much  as  to  wish  the  letter  which  I  recently 
wrote  to  you. 


John  Lothrop  Motley 


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First  page  of  A.  L.  S.  (4  pages)  of  John  Lothrop  Motley  to  General  Adam  Badeau, 

December  24,  1868 


Hmerlcan  Hutbors  271 

As  she  is  kind  enough  to  take  an  interest  in  what 
I  write  or  speak  will  you  say  that  I  shall  ask  leave  to 
send  her  a  copy  of  the  Address  which  I  made  last  week 
before  the  N.  York  Historical  Society — so  soon  as 
it  is  published  in  pamphlet  form.  The  report  in  the 
New  York  papers  has  many  omissions — in  some 
cases  strangely  perverting  the  sense. 

Of  course  I  shall  have  the  honor  of  sending  it  to 
General  Grant  also — as  well  as  to  yourself.  I  think 
it  will  be  ready  early  in  January. 

I  hope  that  you  are  making  steady  progress  with 
your  History  &  that  you  will  not  be  afraid  of  making 
it  too  long. 

I  really  think  that  you  ought  to  have  two  more 
volumes  for  the  Military  History — for  your  subject 
expands  in  interest  &  importance  with  every  step  in 
advance.  But  pray  dont  think  me  intrusive  in 
offering  advice  on  matters  concerning  which  you  are 
a  far  better  judge  than  I  can  be.  Wishing  you  a 
merry  Christmas  &  happy  new  year  &  asking  you  to 
convey  those  sincere  wishes  to  General  &  Mrs.  Grant, 
I  remain 

Very  sincerely  yours, 
J.  L.  MOTLEY 

Brig  Genl  ADAM  BADEAU,  U.  S.  A. 

Almost  all  who  write  of  the  personality 
of  Hawthorne  dwell  upon  his  disposition  to 
be  solitary,  and  give  the  impression  that  he 
was  averse  to  the  society  of  his  fellow-men; 
but  while  he  was  undeniably  shy  and  self- 


272     IRambles  in  autograph  Xanb 

distrustful,  he  was  not  devoid  of  geniality 
and  could  be  a  most  delightful  companion. 
Like  most  men  of  delicate  minds  and  a  dis- 
position to  muse  and  to  ponder,  he  did  not 
enjoy  miscellaneous  company  and  the  tedious 
banalities  of  what  Donald  Mitchell  calls 
"pre-arranged  social  gatherings."  In  Julian 
Hawthorne's  biography  of  his  father  a  letter 
is  quoted  in  which  he  says:  "I  do  wish  these 
blockheads,  and  all  other  blockheads  in  this 
world,  could  comprehend  how  inestimable 
are  the  quiet  hours  of  a  busy  man — especially 
when  that  man  has  no  native  impulse  to  keep 
him  busy — but  is  continually  forced  to  battle 
with  his  own  nature,  which  yearns  for  seclu- 
sion (the  solitude  of  a  mated  two)  and  freedom 
to  think  and  dream  and  feel."  When  in  the 
company  of  those  with  whom  he  could  shake 
off  his  natural  diffidence  and  exaggerated 
modesty,  he  gave  no  indication  of  being  a 
misanthropical  recluse.  Many  men  who  have 
his  strong  aversion  to  bores  have  more  skill 
in  concealing  it,  and  acquire  a  reputation  for 
what  is  termed  "sociability"  because  they 
are  not  frank  enough  to  own  how  much  they 


Nathaniel  Hawthorne 
From  a  copper  print 


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A.  L.  S.  of  Nathaniel  Hawthorne,  December  10,  1850 


american  Hutbors  273 


are  bored  by  that  worthy,  estimable  but 
generally  uninteresting  person  known  as  "the 
average  man."  One  of  my  Hawthorne  letters 
does  not  bear  out  the  notion  that  he  was 
invariably  exclusive  and  inhospitable.  He 
writes: 

LENOX  December,  1850. 
MY  DEAR  SIR: 

I  am  gratified  that  you  think  me  worth  biographiz- 
ing; and  as  soon  as  I  get  a  book  off  my  hands,  I  will 
see  what  I  can  do  towards  your  purpose.  You  will 
not  find  it  a  life  of  many  incidents.  I  could  wish 
(not  for  the  first  time) ,  that  I  were  personally  known 
to  you,  and  could  impart  the  requisite  materials  from 
one  corner  of  the  fireside  to  the  other. 

Very  truly  yours, 

NATH.  HAWTHORNE 

I  have  never  thanked  you  for  the  Optimist.  The 
book  has  been  a  great  pleasure  to  me,  and  is  so  still. 

One  of  my  letters  of  that  charming  man 
whose  light  and  graceful  poems  endear  him 
to  all  lovers  of  melodious  verse  but  who 
surely  deserves  to  be  best  remembered  by  the 
Story  of  a  Bad  Boy,  was  written  to  General 
George  P.  Morris  of  "Woodman  Spare  that 
Tree"  celebrity,  the  friend  and  associate  ot 
Willis,  editor  of  the  New  York  Mirror  and  of 


274    IRambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanb 

the  Home  Journal,  the  encourager  of  literary 
neophytes  in  the  middle  nineteenth  century 
days.  The  year  of  its  date  is  not  given,  but 
it  must  be  quite  an  early  letter,  for  Morris 
died  in  July,  1864,  when  Aldrich  was  not 
quite  twenty-eight.  So  shadowy  has  become 
the  fame  of  Morris,  once  a  shining  light  in  the 
little  firmament  of  New  York,  that  a  year 
or  two  ago  a  pleasant  writer,  in  describing  the 
neighbourhood  of  Cold  Spring,  where  the 
large-hearted  editor  had  his  home,  "Under- 
cliff, "  [within  my  recollection  as  well-known 
as  "Idlewild"  or  "Sunnyside, "]  spoke  of  the 
title  of  "General"  as  having  been  won  by 
service  in  the  Civil  War,  whereas  it  was  only 
a  militia  title  conferred  in  the  time  when 
military  honours  were  achieved  on  the  peace- 
ful parade-ground  or  the  busy  stretches  of 
Broadway. 

Thursday  Evening,  July  26th. 
To  GEN.  GEO.  P.  MORRIS. 

DEAR  SIR — 

I  send  you  a  trifle  which  you  can  use  at  your 
discretion  and  leisure,  after  you  have  disposed  of 
rhymers  more  anxious  than  I  to  catch  Fame  and  Time 
by  the  forelock.  Speaking  of  time,  it  robs  us  of  many 


Thomas  Bailey  Aldrich 
From  a  steel  engraving 


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First  page  of  A.  L.  S.  (2  pages)  of  Thomas  Bailey  Aldrich  to  General  George  P. 
Morris,  July   26,  no  year 


Hmerican  Hutfoors  275 

a  jewel ;  but  there  is  one  thing  it  shall  not  take  away 
from  me — the  memory  of  the  few  pleasant  moments 
I  passed  with  you  a  while  since.  I  feel  the  pressure 
of  your  hand  in  mine  yet;  I  think  it  will  linger  there 
always,  the  same  as  your  songs  have  warmed  my 
heart  for  many  a  year.  May  God  bless  you,  sir. 

Yours  truly, 

T.  B.  ALDRICH 

Shortly  before  Charles  Farrar  Browne  set 
off  for  England,  where  he  gained  so  much 
celebrity  but  whence  he  was  destined  never 
to  return,  he  seems  to  have  abandoned  tem- 
porarily his  famous  "show"  with  its  respect- 
able "snaix"  and  distinguished  kangaroo — 
" an  amoosin  little  cuss" — and  to  have  become 
interested  in  some  mining  venture,  a  result 
possibly  of  his  experience  in  the  land  of  the 
Mormons.  He  writes: 

Feby  4—  '66. 
DEAR  H— 

I  saw  Jim  Wilder  at  Portland  the  other  day,  and 
he  referred  me  to  a  party  in  Boston,  who  is  in  the  mine 
business.  Besides  Wilder,  who  knows,  says  it  is 
getting  played  out  in  N.  Y.  while  Boston,  on  the 
contrary,  presents  a  fresh  unploughed  field  of  green- 
horns anxious  to  be  auriferously  fleeced.  He  wrote 
the  party  (whose  name  I  think  is  Graham — a  lawyer) 
and  will  communicate  with  me  at  once.  I  shall  be 


276    IRambles  in  Hutograpb  ILanb 


in  N.  Y.  before  May  1st.     I  am  anxiously  waiting 
a  reply  to  my  last  note  to  you. 

,  Yours  ever, 
A.  WARD 

Close  by  a  little  fragment  of  a  note  for  the  Dic- 
tionary reposes  a  letter  written  by  Noah  Web- 
ster in  a  bold  and  legible  hand  which  gives  no 
indication  that  the  pen  was  guided  by  a  man 
past  eighty-four,  only  three  months  before  the 
close  of  his  life.  The  connection  between  ' '  me- 
lasses, "  as  he  calls  it,  and  the  birth  of  a  Dauphin 
is  not  quite  apparent;  he  was  evidently  jotting 
down  for  a  friend  a  few  of  his  reminiscences. 

NEW  HAVEN,  Feby  20,  1843 — 
SIR— 

When  I  was  traveling  to  the  South  in  the  year  1785, 
I  called  on  General  Washington  at  Mount  Vernon. 
At  dinner,  the  last  course  of  dishes  was  a  species  of 
pan-cakes  which  were  handed  round  to  each  guest, 
accompanied  with  a  bowl  of  sugar  &  another  of 
melasses  for  seasoning  them,  that  each  guest  might 
suit  himself.  When  the  dish  came  to  me,  I  pushed 
by  me  the  bowl  of  melasses,  observing  to  the  gentle- 
men present  that  I  had  enough  of  that  in  my  own 
country.  The  General  burst  out  with  a  loud  laugh, 
a  thing  very  unusual  with  him;  Ah,  said  he  "there  is 
nothing  in  that  story  about  your  eating  melasses  in 
New  England."  There  was  a  gentleman  from  Mary- 


Noah  Webster 
From  a  steel  engraving 


First  page  of  A.  L.  S.  (2  pages)  of  Noah  Webster,  February  20,  1843 


Hmerican  Hutbors  277 

land  at  the  table,  &  the  General  immediately  told  a 
story,  stating  that  during  the  revolution  a  hogshead 
of  melasses  was  stove  in  West  Chester  by  the  over- 
setting of  a  wagon,  &  a  body  of  Maryland  troops  being 
near,  the  soldiers  ran  hastily  &  saved  all  they  could 
by  filling  their  hats  or  caps  with  melasses. 

Near  the  close  of  the  revolutionary  war,  I  think 
in  1782,  I  was  at  West  point  when  the  birth  of  a 
dauphin  in  France  was  celebrated  by  the  American 
troops  at  that  place.  The  troops  were  arranged  in  a 
line  along  the  hills  on  the  west  of  the  camp  on  the 
point  &  on  the  mountains  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Hudson.  When  the  order  was  given  to  fire,  there 
was  a  stream  of  firing  all  around  the  camp  rapidly 
passing  from  one  end  of  the  line  to  the  other,  while 
the  roar  of  cannon,  reverberated  from  the  hills, 
resounded  among  the  mountains,  &  thousands  of 
human  voices  made  the  atmosphere  ring  with  a  song 
prepared  for  the  occasion,  A  Dauphin's  born.  This 
was  a  splendid  exhibition,  closed  with  a  handsome 
repast  under  a  long  arcade  or  bower,  formed  with 
branches  of  trees.  I  have  never  seen  any  account  of 
this  celebration  in  print. 

N.  WEBSTER 

One  more  letter  may  be  given;  not  because 
of  any  great  literary  reputation  of  the  writer, 
but  because  it  shows  the  unbecoming  itching 
for  the  Presidency  of  which  Chief -Justice 
Chase  was  the  victim  and  the  petty  and 
trifling  methods  he  adopted  to  obtain  a 


278    IRamblee  in  Hutograpb 


nomination.  Grant,  who  had  never  voted 
for  any  candidates  not  Democratic,  was 
certain  to  be  the  Republican  nominee,  and 
Chase,  who  had  been  a  Republican  since  that 
party  was  organised,  had  a  hope  of  being  put 
forward  by  the  Democrats.  As  is  not  unusual, 
the  matter  of  political  principles  was  a  minor 
one.  Halpine  was  a  hanger-on  in  newspaper 
offices,  with  a  facile  pen  and  no  principles  to 
speak  of.  He  made  a  little  fame  during  the 
rebellion  as  the  author  of  some  feebly  humor- 
ous verse  over  the  nom  de  plume  of  Miles 
O'Reilly;  conducted  a  weekly  newspaper  in 
New  York;  and  was  a  vain,  rather  showy,  and 
wholly  uninfluential  person,  who  had  a  keen 
eye  for  the  main  chance.  This  character 
shines  through  the  lines  of  this  epistle;  four 
months  after  it  was  written  Halpine  was 
found  dead  one  day,  and  some  weeks  earlier 
the  Chase  "boom"  had  perished  miserably. 

REGISTER'S  OFFICE,  HALL  OF  RECORDS. 
CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  NEW  YORK. 

April  i,  1868. 

MY  DEAR  CHIEF  JUSTICE  — 

I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of 
your  letter  dated  the  26th  instant,  which  has  just 


Hmerican  Hutbors  279 

come  to  hand;  and  thank  you  very  respectfully  for 
the  same.  The  points  given  in  it  shall  be  used  to 
such  advantage  as  I  can  put  them,  in  your  interest; 
but  their  source  shall  be  kept  as  private  as  you  wish — 
indeed,  as  they  would  have  been  without  your  warning 
of  "strictly  private"  at  the  top.  Let  me  say  that, 
in  conversation  with  Mayor  Hoffman  half  an  hour 
ago  he  expressed  his  conviction  that  the  Demc  and 
Conservative  party  "would  have"  to  unite  on  Chase 
as  their  only  hope  of  success  " — and  this  from  Hoffman 
is  important ;  as  he  is  only  a  tube  through  which  more 
important  organ-players  whistle  popular  music. 
Certainly  the  Herald  has  not  been  unfriendly  to  you 
of  late — I  mean  within  the  past  fortnight;  as  I  have 
written  nearly  all  the  articles  in  which  your  name 
occurred;  and  I  further  know  Mr.  Bennett  wishes 
you  to  be  pressed  for  the  Presidency;  but  he  is  so 
fitfull  and  uncertain  that  I  could  not  bind  myself 
for  his  continuing  steadfast  to  this  or  any  other 
programme.  Greeley,  I  know,  for  he  told  me  so  at 
dinner  yesterday  week,  is  deeply  chagrined  at  the 
apparent  necessity  ("a  'necessity  of  bad  faith  & 
cowardice"  was  my  rejoinder)  which  makes  Grant 
the  Radical  nominee;  for  I  tell  you  frankly,  and  indeed 
have  so  said  in  my  paper,  that  as  between  Chase  for 
the  Radicals  and  Pendleton  for  the  Democrats,— 
there  are  25000  Democrats  in  this  City  alone  who 
would  vote  for  Chase, — myself  included — That 
Pendleton  himself  will  be  nominated,  I  do  not  think ; 
but  the  contest  will  lie  in  our  Convention  between 
some  equivalent  for  Pendleton — some  man  of  his 
or  similar  antecedents  &  present  platform — and 
the  more  loyal  and  moderate  Conservatives  who  will 


280    IRamblce  in  Hutograpb 


(I  hope)  press  your  name,  or  some  name  of  your 
equivalent.  To  win,  we  must  get  back  the  old  free- 
soil  vote,  represented  by  the  Evening  Post,  (Wm. 
Cullen  Bryant  and  Parke  Godwin)  in  this  City,  and 
to  win  back  that  free-soil  Democratic  element,  your 
name  is  certainly  the  most  available  we  have  offered. 
With  kindest  and  most  respectful  remembrances  to 
Mrs.  Sprague  &  the  Governor, 

Believe  me  always  to  remain 
Your  obliged  friend  &  servant, 

CHAS  G.  HALPINE 
Hon  SALMON  P.  CHASE, 

Chief  Justice  United  States. 


CHAPTER  XIV  . 

TWO  NEW  ENGLAND  PHILOSOPHERS 

Two  New  England  Philosophers— Ralph  Waldo  Emerson- 
Henry  D.  Thoreau — Autographic  "Finds";  Jay,  the  Fish- 
monger— Stock  Stories — American  Sources — Domestic  In- 
roads— The  American  Antiquarian — My  Sad  Beginning — 
Dickens 's  Holocaust — Manuscripts — Autographed  Books. 

THE  examples  of  Emerson  and  Thoreau  in 
this  particular  collection  are  not  very  im- 
portant or  significant;  such  value  as  they 
possess  is  only  autographic,  They  may  serve 
however  as  texts  for  some  remarks  which 
may  meet  with  vigorous  dissent,  although 
there  is  reason  to  believe  that  not  a  few  agree 
with  me;  at  least  some  have  told  me  so  in  the 
strictest  confidence.  This  is  what  Emerson 
writes — to  George  William  Curtis,  probably: 

CONCORD,  ad  Octr. 
MY  DEAR  SIR — 

Thursday  I9th  will  suit  us,  &,  I  hope,  the  i;th  is 
281 


282    IRambles  in  Hutograpb  Hanfc 

good  enough  for  Taunton.  If  not,  if  you  must  go  to 
Taunton  on  iQth,  then  Tuesday,  I7th,  shall  suit  us, 
in  the  circumstances. 

With  all  kind  greetings, 

R.  W.  EMERSON 
MR.  CURTIS. 


There  is  nothing  inspiring  about  that;  no 
great  thought  is  hinted  at,  no  philosophical 
truth  suggested;  but  it  is  Emerson,  and  that 
means  much  to  the  collector.  There  was  a 
time  when  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  was  the 
prophet  and  the  seer  of  America.  He  had  a 
powerful  influence  in  the  primitive  days 
before  we  had  emerged  from  the  limitations 
of  provincialism,  but  it  has  perceptibly 
diminished  and  he  has  become  almost  a 
tradition.  He  survives  in  a  literary  way, 
for  he  had  an  artfulness  of  style  and  discourse. 
He  understood  how  to  veil  the  expression  of 
a  thought  in  a  delicate  fabric  which  made 
the  commonplace  charmingly  mysterious  and 
he  shrewdly  refused  to  engage  in  argument 
with  those  who  disagreed  with  him,  a  method 
not  infrequently  adopted  by  the  wily  who 
know  that  if  you  make  assertions  and  heed 


Hew  i£nslanb  pbilosopbera  283 


no  objections  you  are  fairly  sure  of  getting 
some  one  to  believe  in  you.  It  is  significant 
that  the  man  who,  in  1838,  announced  that 
the  office  of  preacher  was  dying  and  the  church 
tottering  to  its  fall  has  ceased  to  maintain  his 
power,  while  the  church  which  he  contemptu- 
ously rejected  has  survived  his  repudiation 
and  continues  to  be  a  living  force. 

It  is  always  easier  to  say  pleasant  things 
than  unpleasant  ones.  Those  who  insist 
upon  the  duty  of  "always  telling  the  truth," 
meaning  what  they  happen  to  regard  as  the 
truth,  irrespective  of  their  capacity  to  decide, 
are  usually  very  disagreeable  people.  But 
Emerson  could  not  justly  complain  of  frank- 
ness in  the  expression  of  views,  for  he  pro- 
claimed that  "we  will  walk  on  our  own  feet; 
we  will  work  with  our  own  hands;  we  will 
speak  with  our  own  minds."  A  critic  once 
said  of  me  that  I  was  "never  so  sure  and  never 
so  offensive  as  when  I  was  wrong,"  meaning, 
of  course,  when  he  thought  I  was  wrong. 
But  if  we  hesitate  to  say  what  we  really  think 
for  fear  that  some  one  will  denounce  us  as 
being  wrong,  we  will  say  very  little.  I  do 


284    IRambles  In  Hutograpb  %ant> 

not  see  why  we  should  hide  our  true  opinions, 
however  unpopular  they  may  be — that  is, 
if  we  are  not  "running  for  office."  The  man 
who  has  such  perfect  confidence  in  himself  as  to 
suppose  that  his  judgments  are  final,  is  what 
Mr.  Bumble  said  that,  in  certain  contingen- 
cies, the  law  is;  but  these  judgments  may  be 
good  until  reversed  by  competent  authority. 
I  do  not  feel  that  I  am  offensive  when  I  say 
that  to  me,  at  least,  there  seems  to  be  little 
sincerity  in  Emerson's  gospel;  and  nothing 
endures  long  in  this  world  that  is  not  sustained 
by  sincerity.  The  lack  of  it  is  betrayed  in 
strange  ways  which  it  is  difficult  to  explain  or 
to  describe.  We  have  all  had  the  experience  of 
listening  to  a  vigorous  and  eloquent  argument, 
commanding  admiration,  which  yet  failed  to 
convince  because  we  could  not  resist  the  feel- 
ing that  brilliant  as  the  speaker  was,  there  was 
no  sincerity  behind  what  he  was  saying.  It 
is  easy  to  suggest  that  the  fault  may  be  in 
the  hearer;  but  even  so,  the  speaker  is  unsuc- 
cessful if  he  cannot  correct  that  fault. 

Let    me    plead    Emerson's    behest    about 
"speaking  with  our   own   minds"    as   some 


IRew  finglanb  ipbiloeopbere  285 


justification  for  saying  that  a  careful  ob- 
server, not  blinded  by  the  disease  of  undis- 
criminating  admiration,  must  be  impressed, 
in  considering  his  life,  with  the  fact  that  like 
most  apostles  of  individualism,  he  was  dis- 
posed to  depend  upon  other  individuals  and 
to  get  as  much  as  he  could  from  them  for  his 
personal  benefit  without  exerting  himself  to 
any  considerable  extent  outside  of  the  fields 
of  rhetoric.  Emerson  would  have  cut  a 
sorry  figure  if  he  had  practised  literally  and 
faithfully  his  gospel  of  absolute  individualism. 
"Have  no  regard  to  the  influence  of  your 
example,  but  act  always  from  the  simplest 
motives"  is  one  of  his  precepts.  If  he  meant 
what  he  said  he  was  advising  men  to  act  in 
accordance  with  the  principles  of  the  hyena 
or  of  the  wild  men  of  Borneo,  who  care  nothing 
for  their  example  and  who  act  from  the 
simplest  of  motives.  He  recalls  the  sailor  in 
Ruddigore  who  always  acted  according  to  the 
dictations  of  his  heart,  when  it  prompted 
him  to  do  just  as  he  wished  to  do.  Another 
of  his  contributions  to  the  stock  of  human 
wisdom  is:  "The  great  man  is  he  who  in 


286    IRambles  itt  Hutograpb  ILanb 

the  midst  of  the  crowd  keeps  with  perfect 
sweetness  the  independence  of  solitude." 
This  has  a  pretty  sound,  but  are  we  to  infer 
that  the  way  to  greatness  is  to  shut  one's 
eyes  in  a  crowd  and  think  of  no  one  but  self? 
At  that  rate,  greatness  is  cheap.  But  possibly 
it  was  meant  only  as  a  phrase. 

Mr.  Ireland,  in  his  Biographical  Sketch,  says 
of  him,  as  if  it  were  vastly  creditable,  that 
"it  was  a  peculiarity  in  Emerson  that  the 
thing  he  most  disliked  was  sickness,  while 
disease  he  regarded  with  the  strongest  aver- 
sion." From  this  astounding  revelation  we 
are  led  to  suppose  that  ordinary  people  are 
fond  of  sickness — -by  which  Mr.  Ireland 
doubtless  means  " illness" — and  regard  disease 
with  positive  affection.  Many  ardent  self- 
lovers  are  sorely  distressed  at  the  sight  of 
suffering  because  it  annoys  them,  disturbs 
their  contentment,  interferes  with  their 
personal  comfort.  It  may  have  been  so  in 
Emerson's  case,  for  we  must  assume  that  Mr. 
Ireland  is  not  ascribing  to  him  any  singularity 
in  disliking  his  own  sicknesses  and  being 
averse  to  his  own  diseases.  This  "peculiar" 


"flew  finglanb  pbilosopbers  287 


antipathy  to  the  contemplation  of  illness 
does  not  appear  to  have  led  him  to  do  any- 
thing to  help  the  sufferers.  In  effect,  he 
proclaimed  the  duty  of  selfishness,  the  ulti- 
mate development  of  the  creed  of  laziness; 
to  that  degree  he  was  sincere.  After  the 
expulsion  from  Eden  he  would  have  used  his 
"rich,  baritone  voice"  and  his  subtle  phrases 
in  advising  the  stricken  pair  to  gather  fig- 
leaves  at  once,  but  he  himself  would  have 
sedulously  refrained  from  providing  any,  even 
for  his  own  protection;  he  would  have  bor- 
rowed some  from  Adam.  He  seems  to  have 
been  afflicted  with  a  sort  of  constitutional  in- 
dolence. In  his  younger  days  he  was  the 
pastor  of  a  church,  but  he  gave  it  up,  ostensi- 
bly, because  of  a  conscientious  objection  to  the 
rite  of  the  Lord's  Supper;  thereby  ridding 
himself  of  an  obligation  to  do  systematic 
work  and  assigning  a  reason  which  permitted 
no  argument.  He  might  well  have  placed 
his  abdication  on  the  ground  that  he  was  not 
fit  for  pastoral  labour;  his  heart  was  not  in 
it.  The  dying  Revolutionary  veteran  who, 
it  is  related,  was  so  dissatisfied  with  the 


288    IRambles  in  Huto$rapb  OLanb 

"consolations"  administered  by  the  philoso- 
pher that  he  rose  from  his  bed  saying,  "Young 
man,  if  you  don't  know  your  business,  you 
had  better  go  home,"  was  an  accurate  ob- 
server. Emerson,  by  his  own  showing, 
entered  the  ministry  without  any  serious 
conviction,  although  it  may  be  unjust  to 
surmise  that  the  pecuniary  consideration 
affected  his  action.  One  of  his  admirers 
applies  to  him  the  words  used  by  Sir  Leslie 
Stephen  about  himself,  that  "he  did  not  dis- 
cover that  his  creed  was  false,  but  that  he  had 
never  really  believed  it."  In  Sir  Leslie's  case, 
however,  the  entrance  into  the  ministry  was 
largely  due  to  the  English  customs  of  his 
day  under  which  a  studious  youth,  not  well 
adapted  to  any  other  profession  and  engaged 
moreover  in  University  work,  took  orders  in 
the  Church  of  England.  Emerson  studied 
theology  for  six  years  before  he  became 
assistant  to  Rev.  Henry  Ware  in  the  Second 
Unitarian  Church  in  Boston.  To  say  that 
after  all  this  preparation  he  became  a  minister 
without  a  sincere  belief  in  the  creed  he  pro- 
fessed to  teach,  is  discreditable  either  to  his 


ZTwo  "flew  i£nglanfc  Ipbilosopbere  289 

honesty  or  to  his  mental  capacity.  It  shows 
a  deficiency  either  in  intellect  or  in  moral 
sense,  and  there  was  no  weakness  of  intellect. 
The  circumstances  of  his  awakening  to  his 
error  are  not  without  significance.  Fortu- 
nately for  him,  he  had  done  what  many  phi- 
losophers are  wise  enough  to  do — he  married 
a  wife,  of  whom  it  may  be  said  that,  like  Mrs. 
Pecksniff,  "she  had  a  small  property."  Upon 
her  early  demise,  in  February,  1832,  he  came 
into  the  enjoyment  of  about  twelve  hundred 
dollars  a  year,  which  meant  much  more  then 
than  it  does  now.  It  may  have  been  merely 
a  coincidence,  but  almost  immediately  he 
perceived  the  propriety  and  advisability  of 
abandoning  the  ministerial  function. 

Philosophers  are  supposed  to  have  a  lofty 
contempt  for  such  a  sordid  thing  as  property, 
but  the  matter  of  his  pecuniary  profit  appears 
to  have  been  perpetually  before  his  mind. 
Pointing  to  the  pride  of  his  orchard,  he  said: 
"That  apple  tree  is  worth  more  than  my  head 
to  me.  My  income  from  the  former  is 
greater  than  the  revenue  from  all  my  books." 
That  is  his  reported  speech  but  I  own  that 


IRambles  in  Hutograpb 


I  am  suspicious  about  its  verity,  for  who, 
in  a  conversation,  would  use  the  expression 
"the  former"  in  that  way?  At  one  time 
we  find  him  dwelling,  not  altogether  unosten- 
tatiously, upon  his  poverty,  alleging  that  he 
had  only  a  house,  a  garden,  an  orchard, 
twenty-two  thousand  dollars  in  cash  invest- 
ments, and  an  income  of  about  eight  hundred 
dollars  a  winter  from  his  lectures.  Under 
the  conditions  prevailing  in  New  England 
three  quarters  of  a  century  ago,  he  was  rather 
well  off.  He  had  his  start  with  property 
which  some  one  else  had  toiled  for  and  had 
accumulated  for  purposes  not  connected  with 
Emerson's  support. 

But  he  was  as  content  that  others  should 
have  laboured  for  his  profit  as  he  was  satisfied 
to  have  others  do  the  fighting  for  him,  when  in 
1  86  1  he  said,  at  the  Charlestown  Navy  Yard: 
"Ah!  sometimes  gunpowder  smells  good!" 
That  was  the  true  philosophic  spirit.  He  was 
several  hundred  miles  away  from  the  spot 
where  gunpowder  was  burning  and  apparently 
gave  no  thought  to  the  suffering  and  slaughter 
among  those  who  were  burning  it. 


"flew  Enalanfc  pbilosopbera  291 


His  friends  who  were  ready  to  break  up  the 
government  of  this  country  to  destroy  slavery 
had  little  help  or  comfort  from  him  until 
their  task  was  nearly  accomplished  and  their 
cause  had  become  popular  in  New  England. 
"  If  I  work  honestly  and  steadily  in  my  own 
garden,  I  am  making  protest  against  slave- 
labour,  "  he  said;  but  if  the  antagonists  of 
slavery  had  limited  their  activities  to  that 
sort  of  "protest,"  slavery  would  exist  to-day 
unless  abolished  by  the  voluntary  act  of  the 
slaveholders.  It  was  an  easy,  comfortable 
kind  of  protest,  mild  in  its  nature,  and  he 
must  have  been  inefficient  in  his  garden,  even 
if  honest  and  steady,  since  we  learn  that  his 
digging  was  fraught  with  danger  to  his 
philosophic  legs.  His  attitude  towards  real 
reforms  reminds  one  of  the  coarse  caricatures 
which  not  long  ago  filled  our  newspapers, 
labelled,  "Let  George  do  it."  In  his  address 
on  "The  American  Scholar"  in  1837,  he  said: 
"If  the  single  man  plant  himself  indomitably 
upon  his  instincts,  and  there  abide,  the  huge 
world  will  come  round  to  him."  It  may  be 
thought  that  this  would  depend  a  good  deal 


292     IRambles  in  Hutoarapb  Xanb 


upon  the  nature  of  the  instincts.  The 
"huge  world"  does  not  trot  about  to  suit  the 
varying  instincts  of  millions  of  mortals. 
Such  pseudo-individualism  means  only  sav- 
agery; experience  teaches  men  that  sane 
independence  is  best  secured  by  intelligent 
co-operation. 

In  the  Century  for  July,  1882,  Emma 
Lazarus  paid  an  elaborate  tribute  to  Emerson, 
boasting  that  he  founded  no  school,  formu- 
lated no  theory,  and  "abstained  from  uttering 
a  single  dogma."  I  do  not  know  what  she 
calls  a  "dogma";  I  had  an  idea  that,  in  its 
general  sense,  it  meant  "a  fixed  opinion," 
at  least  that  is  one  of  its  principal  meanings. 
Emerson  was  going  about,  writing  and  speak- 
ing, during  all  his  active  years,  and  it  is 
dubious  praise  to  say  that  he  never  uttered  a 
fixed  opinion.  If  that  were  true,  what  on 
earth  was  he  talking  about? 

The  letter  of  Thoreau  is  also  devoid  of  any 
intrinsic  interest.  It  was  evidently  written 
for  the  information  of  the  head  of  the 
well-known  publishing  firm  of  Wiley  & 
Putnam. 


Iftew  iBnglanb  Ipbilosopbers  293 


CONCORD,  Jan  14,  1847. 
DEAR  SIR  — 

Will  you  please  inform  Mr.  Wiley  that  I  have 
concluded  to  wait  a  fortnight  for  his  answer.  As  I 
should  like  to  make  some  corrections  in  the  Mss.  in 
the  meanwhile,  I  will  thank  you  if  you  will  send  it 
to  me  by  Harnden's  express  to  Boston  and  by  Adams' 
to  Concord  and  I  will  return  it  in  ten  days. 

Yrs  &c., 

HENRY  D.  THOREAU 


Whether  or  not  the  eccentric  Mr.  Henry 
D.  Thoreau  may  be  regarded  as  a  philosopher, 
in  a  technical  sense,  he  fancied  that  he  was 
one,  and  he  was  a  devout  disciple  of  the  Sage 
of  Concord.  His  views  of  life  and  of  his 
duties  in  life  were  full  of  the  spirit  of  his 
master.  "Local  as  a  woodchuck, "  according 
to  John  Burroughs,  he  had  a  literary  faculty 
charming  to  many,  but  he  too  was  something 
of  a  poseur  and  understood  the  art  of  self- 
advertisement  almost  as  well  as  a  modern 
"Progressive"  statesman.  In  the  words  of 
Lowell,  he  was  "a  man  with  so  high  a  conceit 
of  himself  that  he  accepted  without  question- 
ing, and  insisted  on  our  accepting,  his  defects 
and  weaknesses  of  character  as  virtues  and 


294    "Rambles  in  Hutograpb  Uanb 

powers  peculiar  to  himself."  He  posed  as  an 
enthusiastic  lover  and  observer  of  nature; 
but,  as  Lowell  further  points  out,  he  was  really 
no  observer. 

Till  he  built  his  Walden  shanty  he  did  not  know  that 
the  hickory  grew  in  Concord.  Till  he  went  to  Maine, 
he  had  never  seen  phosphorescent  wood,  a  phenome- 
non early  familiar  to  most  country  boys.  At  forty, 
he  speaks  of  the  seeding  of  the  pine  as  a  new  discov- 
ery, though  one  should  have  thought  that  its  gold- 
dust  of  blowing  pollen  might  have  earlier  drawn  his 
eye.  ...  He  discovered  nothing.  He  thought 
everything  a  discovery  of  his  own,  from  moonlight 
to  the  planting  of  acorns  and  nuts  by  squirrels.1 

Burroughs,  in  his  glowing  eulogy  of  him, 
feels  obliged  to  make  this  admission: 

Considering  that  Thoreau  spent  half  of  each  day  for 
upwards  of  twenty  years  in  the  open  air,  bent  upon 
spying  out  Nature's  ways  and  doings,  it  is  remark- 
able that  he  made  so  few  real  observations.  .  .  .  He 
has  added  no  new  line  or  touch  to  the  portrait  of  bird 
or  beast  that  I  can  recall — no  important  or  significant 
fact  to  their  lives. 

Burroughs  easily  discerns  the  reason:  he 
had  no  self-forgetfulness;  he  was  thinking 
more  about  Henry  D.  Thoreau  than  about 

1  My  Study  Window  (1871),  200. 


IRew  Cnglant)  pbilosopbere  295 


anything  else;  if  he  looked  into  the  glass  of 
Nature,  he  could  see  only  —  himself.  He  was 
a  monument  of  egotism.  Having  neither  pur- 
pose nor  persistency,  he  regarded,  or  affected 
to  regard,  all  success  as  contemptible. 

His  hermit-life  at  Walden  has  been  one 
of  his  principal  "properties,"  as  a  stage- 
manager  might  say;  but  a  slight  investigation 
discloses  how  much  imposture  there  was 
about  it.  The  gentle  but  commonplace 
Donald  Mitchell,  amiably  but  convention- 
ally flattering  to  all  writers  dealt  with  in  his 
American  Lands  and  Letters,  expresses  the 
general  idea  when  he  says  of  Thoreau  at 
Walden  that  "he  built  his  own  house  under 
the  pines,  measuring  costs  by  pennies."  What 
he  really  did  was  to  avail  himself  largely  of 
the  property  of  others  in  orthodox  philo- 
sophical style.  He  began  characteristically  by 
"borrowing  Alcott's  axe."  He  took  pos- 
session of  land  belonging  to  Emerson.  He 
procured  planks  by  "dismantling  a  shanty" 
which  he  bought  from  an  Irishman  —  that, 
at  least,  he  paid  for.  It  is  true  that  he  per- 
formed the  work  of  constructing  the  cabin, 


296    IRamblee  in  Butograpb  ILanb 

having  no  other  occupation  and  being  bent 
on  possessing  a  retreat  where  he  would  be 
under  no  necessity  of  doing  anything  for  the 
benefit  of  any  one  else;  but  he  had  the 
help  of  friends,  including  Alcott  and  George 
William  Curtis,  in  "raising"  it.  He  was  only 
an  amateur  hermit,  for  Channing  tells  us  that 
"he  bivouacked  there  and  really  lived  at 
home,  where  he  went  every  day, "  the  "home" 
being  that  of  his  father.  Mr.  William  Morton 
Payne,  in  his  entertaining  book,  Leading 
American  Essayists,  while  quoting  these 
words  of  Channing,  thinks  that  they  were  not 
literally  true,  because,  I  infer,  the  "hermit" 
did  not  go  home  every  day.  But  it  is  plain 
that  the  "cabin"  was  much  like  the  "desert 
island"  we  boys  used  to  contrive,  back  of  the 
homestead,  or  a  picnic  place  of  resort  of  the 
kind  much  favoured  in  these  times  by  busy 
men  who  seek  to  escape  for  a  brief  season  the 
daily  cares  of  life.  I  wish  I  knew  whether 
he  ever  returned  Alcott's  axe. 

For  several  years  he  was  an  inmate  of 
Emerson's  house,  paying  for  his  support,  as 
well  as  I  can  make  out,  by  "playing  with  the 


(Two  IRevo  EnQlanb  pMlosopbers  297 

kittens"  or  teaching  Emerson  to  dig  without 
imperilling  his  lower  limbs;  and  Emerson 
submitted  to  it  meekly,  possibly  because  he 
was  incapable  of  the  effort  involved  in  getting 
rid  of  his  non-paying  boarder.  In  1848, 
Thoreau,  at  the  age  of  thirty-one,  went  back 
to  the  house  of  his  father,  the  worthy  maker 
of  lead-pencils,  "and  remained  under  the 
family  roof  for  the  rest  of  his  life." 

Thoreau  explains  the  motive  of  his  "her- 
mit" masquerade  by  saying: 

I  wanted  to  live  deep  and  suck  out  all  the  marrow 
of  life,  to  live  so  sturdily  and  Spartan-like  as  to  put 
to  rout  all  that  was  not  life,  to  •  cut  a  broad  swath 
and  shave  close,  to  drive  life  into  a  corner  and  reduce 
it  to  its  lowest  terms,  and,  if  it  proved  to  be  mean, 
why  then  to  get  the  whole  and  genuine  meanness  of 
it,  and  publish  its  meanness  to  the  world;  or  if  it 
were  sublime,  to  know  it  by  experience,  and  be  able 
to  give  a  true  account  of  it  in  my  next  excursion. 

He  was  going  to  do  all  this  by  hiding  in  a  toy- 
hermitage  quite  near  Boston  and  then  writing 
about — himself.  It  seems  to  the  ordinary 
mind  to  have  a  nauseous  flavour  of  absurd 
self-sufficiency;  to  learn  "life"  by  disregarding 
the  existence  of  one's  fellow-beings,  to  evade 


298    IRambies  in  Hutograpb  Xanfc 

the  responsibilities  of  life,  and  then  to  pro- 
claim a  decision  on  the  whole  great  subject 
as  if  it  were  final  and  conclusive.  To  ignore 
our  brother-men,  to  refuse  obedience  to  law, 
and  to  defy  the  rules  of  decent  society  may 
be  characteristic  of  the  unwhipped  schoolboy, 
who  usually  outgrows  such  childish  diseases 
by  the  time  he  assumes  the  toga  of  manhood. 
Lowell,  in  My  Study  Windows,  sums  up  the 
Walden  matter  when  he  says: 

Thoreau's  experiment  actually  presupposes  all  that 
complicated  civilisation  which  is  theoretically  ab- 
jured. He  squatted  on  another  man's  land;  he 
borrows  an  axe;  his  boards,  his  nails,  his  bricks,  his 
mortar,  his  books,  his  lamp,  his  fishhooks,  his  plough, 
his  hoe,  all  turn  State's  evidence  against  him  as  an 
accomplice  in  the  sin  of  that  artificial  civilisation  which 
rendered  it  possible  that  such  a  person  as  Henry  D. 
Thoreau  should  exist  at  all. 

Burroughs  thinks  that  Thoreau  "had  hu- 
mour, but  it  had  worked  a  little;  it  was  not 
quite  sweet."  A  humour  that  is  sour  must 
be  a  very  bad  humour;  but  Burroughs  has 
about  as  much  humour  as  one  of  his  own  wood- 
chucks,  and  is  not  a  competent  judge.  Lowell 
says  that  "Thoreau  had  no  humour,"  and 


1Rew  JEnglanfc  philosophers   299 


most  of  us  will  regard  him  as  better  qualified 
to  pass  judgment.  No  great  egotist,  absorbed 
in  self  -admiration,  ever  has  any  sense  of 
humour,  for  if  he  had  he  would  not  take  him- 
self so  seriously. 

But  why  should  an  elderly  and  inoffensive 
autograph  collector  (not  a  king  but  only  a 
commoner  too)  scold  and  rail  about  Emerson 
and  Thoreau?  They  live  only  in  their  books, 
and  the  books  cannot  be  changed;  their 
little  personal  foibles  and  peculiarities  lie 
buried  with  them.  No  matter  what  I  may 
say  or  think  of  them,  some  man  will  be  fond 
of  them,  another  will  dislike  them,  and  the 
great  majority  will  not  think  of  them  at  all. 

There  is  comfort  in  the  fancy  that,  while 
there  are  few  undiscovered  corners  of  the 
globe  to  gladden  the  hearts  of  geographic 
explorers,  there  may  be  mines  of  autographic 
treasure  still  hidden  and  awaiting  the  approach 
of  the  enthusiast.  In  spite  of  the  ravages 
of  war  and  of  revolutions  and  the  losses  oc- 
casioned by  ignorance  and  inattention,  there 
must  be  stores  of  long-forgotten  letters  and 


300    iRambles  in  Butograpft  Xanfc 

manuscripts  which  will  ultimately  be  brought 
to  light.  The  knowledge  of  the  pecuniary 
value  of  old  writings  has  been  so  widely 
diffused  by  the  aid  of  the  newspapers  and  the 
activities  of  the  dealers  that  the  possessors 
of  these  hoards  are  more  likely  to  over- 
estimate than  to  depreciate  their  worth  in 
the  market.  Dr.  Scott,  in  his  rather  dry  and 
colourless  way,  tells  of  many  surprising  ' '  finds," 
such  as  the  discovery  of  the  diary  of  Rev. 
Dr.  Campbell,  recording  his  visits  to  Dr. 
Johnson  and  forming  an  interesting  addition 
to  Boswell's  Life,  which  was  "behind  an  old 
press  in  one  of  the  offices  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  New  South  Wales"  in  Sydney;  but 
there  is  no  known  explanation  of  the  mystery 
of  its  appearance  in  that  strange  hiding- 
place.  Mr.  Edward  Jenks,  writing  from 
Melbourne  University,  informs  us  how  "in 
that  distant  quarter  of  the  world  he  had 
turned  up  no  less  a  treasure  than  a  manu- 
script book  of  Keats,  containing  several  of 
his  poems  and  his  'Pot  of  Basil'  with  a  new 
verse."  But  we  must  remember  that  in 
early  days  Australia  was  largely  populated 


IRew  JEnglanb  ipbilosopbers   301 


by  exiles  from  England  who  had  a  shrewd  idea 
of  the  value  of  what  Mr.  Wemmick  called 
"portable  property,"  without  much  inclina- 
tion to  disclose  the  fact  of  its  possession  by 
them  or  the  sources  from  which  it  was  derived. 
Then  there  is  the  story  of  Sir  Robert  Cotton 
who  found  his  tailor  cutting  off,  for  a  measure, 
a  strip  of  parchment  which  proved  to  be  one 
of  the  originals  of  Magna  Charta  with  the 
seals  and  signatures  intact;  of  Dr.  Raffles, 
who  bought  for  one  and  sixpence,  in  an  old 
bookstore  on  Holborn  Hill,  the  account  of  the 
expenses  of  the  execution  of  Mary,  Queen  of 
Scots,  with  an  order  for  their  payment  signed 
by  Cecil,  Lord  Burleigh,  and  who  procured 
from  the  files  of  a  printer  at  Wrexham,  North 
Wales,  the  original  draft  of  Heber's  "From 
Greenland's  icy  mountains";  and  of  the 
man  who  some  seventy  years  ago  found  Mr. 
Jay,  a  fishmonger  in  Hungerford  Market, 
selling  soles  wrapped  in  an  old  folio  sheet, 
which  led  to  the  discovery  of  seven  tons  of 
records  —  bought  by  Jay  at  Somerset  House 
for  £7  a  ton  —  consisting  in  part,  it  is  said,  of 
documents  for  the  safe-keeping  of  prisoners 


302    IRambles  in  Hutoarapfo 


in  the  Tower  from  the  time  of  Henry  VII  to 
that  of  William  III,  autograph  accounts  of 
Nell  Gwynne,  receipts  signed  by  Wren, 
Dryden,  and  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  with  auto- 
graph letters  of  Cardinal  Wolsey  to  Pope 
Clement  VII  about  the  divorce  of  Henry  VIII, 
a  manuscript  in  the  hand  of  Edward  VI, 
and  a  letter  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 

Some  of  these  wonderful  histories  may  not 
however  be  accepted  absolutely  in  all  their 
details.  Personally,  I  feel  some  doubts  about 
those  "autograph  accounts"  of  Nell  Gwynne, 
since  Nell,  with  all  her  charms,  did  not  shine 
in  the  matter  of  chirography,  being  barely 
able  to  make  her  mark  when  signing  a  paper; 
still  they  were  accounts  in  somebody's  auto- 
graph, and  one  must  not  be  hypercritical. 
Another  little  touch  added  to  the  Jay  narrative 
is  not  reassuring.  We  are  told  by  Scott  that 
"a  fire  having  occurred,  it  destroyed  about 
three  tons  which  Mr.  Jay  still  had  unsold." 
We  might  suppose  that  when  the  "fire"  de- 
stroyed that  lot,  it  "occurred,"  but  it  is  odd 
that  in  so  many  of  the  romantic  instances  of 
alleged  wholesale  "finds,"  we  are  always 


Iftew  England  jpbilosopbere   303 


pained  by  learning  that  a  certain  specific 
amount  of  matter  has  been  disposed  of  by 
some  such  method  of  destruction.  And  how 
came  a  fishmonger  to  buy  £49  worth  of  old 
documents  merely  to  use  as  wrapping  paper? 
When  did  this  injudicious  fire  occur?  If  before 
the  revelation,  how  did  it  happen  that  there 
was  so  much  material  left?  If  after,  when  its 
value  was  known,  how  did  these  records  come 
to  be  lingering  in  the  perilous  precincts  of 
Hungerford  Market?  If  there  were  "three 
tons  still  unsold,"  there  must  have  been  a 
good  deal  that  had  been  "sold"  and  not  util- 
ised for  the  wrapping  up  of  soles.  One  feels 
disposed  to  regard  with  some  suspicion  the 
spectacle  of  the  fishmonger  engaged  in  wrap- 
ping merchandise  in  folio  sheets  "which  he 
tore  out  of  a  large  volume  he  kept  by  his 
side."  Could  it  have  been  a  skilfully  devised 
"plant"?  A  little  cross-examination  might  be 
useful  in  these  circumstances. 

A  mysterious  association  between  fish  and 
old  autographs  must  exist,  as  we  learn  of  the 
appearance  of  the  forty  years'  correspondence 
between  James  Boswell  and  the  Rev.  W.  J. 


304     IRambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanfc 


Temple,  in  the  possession  of  the  proprietor 
of  a  fish  shop  in  Boulogne. 

After  all,  most  of  the  accounts  of  "finds" 
are  stock  stories,  repeated  again  and  again 
in  English  books  about  autographs,  such 
as  the  discovery  of  the  Fairfax  papers  in 
a  box  apparently  filled  with  paving  tiles;  the 
Thurloe  papers,  revealed  by  the  accidental 
falling  of  a  ceiling  in  Lincoln's  Inn;  the 
finding  by  M.  Vatel  of  the  love  letters  of 
Mme.  Roland  and  Buzot,  in  a  shop  in  a 
Parisian  suburban  market;  the  Wedgwood 
records,  in  an  old  store  in  Birmingham; 
Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montagu's  letters  in 
a  box  in  a  lawyer's  office;  the  manuscripts 
of  Cardinal  York,  offered  for  sale  in  Rome  for 
£20;  and  Sir  H.  Maxwell  Lyle's  exploration 
of  a  loft  at  Belvoir — all  of  these  are  duly  set 
forth  in  the  pages  of  Scott  and  of  Broadley. 
Doubtless  there  are  many  dealers  who  could, 
if  they  would,  thrilling  tales  unfold,  but  for 
obvious  reasons  they  are  not  inclined  to 
unfold  them.  It  would  not  be  good  "busi- 
ness" to  encourage  in  prospective  buyers  a 
feeling  of  rosy  hope  that  new  autographic 


1Rew  £nglanfc  pbiloeopbere   305 


El  Dorados  are   to   be    opened  by   a  mere 
amateur. 

Naturally  the  opportunities  for  wholesale 
discoveries  of  autographic  deposits  in  this 
quarter  of  the  world  are  not  so  abundant  as 
they  are  in  the  older  countries.  Most  of  us 
know  the  tale  of  Mr.  Tefft  and  the  paper 
blown  about  the  lawn,  and  I  have  told  else- 
where the  story  of  the  barrel  of  Benjamin 
Franklin  writings  rescued  some  years  ago  by 
a  lady  visitor  at  a  house  near  Philadelphia. 
There  may  be  a  few  storehouses  undisturbed 
in  the  Southern  States,  which  have  survived 
the  destruction  caused  by  the  Civil  War, 
but  even  those  will  probably  be  of  no  serious 
importance. 

No  one  knows,  of  course  [says  a  recent  writer1],  how 
many  precious  documents  bearing  the  signature  of 
Washington,  Lee,  or  Henry  were  used  to  light  the 
fires,  or  "stop  a  hole  to  keep  the  wind  away."  It 
is  a  fact  that  a  good  Virginia  housekeeper  kept  the 
mould  out  of  her  preserves  with  covers  cut  from  George 
Mason's  letters.  At  a  time  and  a  place  where  paper 
was  scarce,  we  can  imagine  how  great  a  temptation  it 
was  to  ransack  the  garret  for  needed  scraps.  .  .  . 
We  are  sorry  that  preserves  were  so  much  liked  in  old 

'  The  True  Patrick  Henry,  p.  286. 


306    IRamblee  in  Hutograpb  Hanfc 

Virginia,  and  we  are  glad  to  have  certain  letters  that 
corroding  time  has  left  us. 

Forty  years  ago  and  more  there  was  in 
New  York  a  little  quarterly  publication  called 
The  American  Antiquarian,  conducted  by 
Mr.  Burns,  which  had  a  short  and  precarious 
existence.  A  few  of  the  old  numbers  were 
given  to  me  lately  by  a  generous  friend  in 
Buffalo,  and  they  have  a  genuine  if  pathetic 
interest.  In  the  first  article  of  the  first 
number  (May,  1870)  there  is  a  brief  chapter 
on  autographs  in  which  the  writer  laments 
over  the  destruction  of  "thousands  of  tons 
of  valuable  matter,"  and  says: 

Much  has  been  asserted,  and  more  conjectured,  as 
to  the  historical  matter  destroyed  in  the  South  by 
the  license  of  soldiers,  but  those  who  have  had  even 
a  glimpse  of  the  piles  of  manuscript,  the  accumulations 
of  centuries,  drawn  from  garrets  by  the  high  prices 
paid  for  old  paper  at  the  North  during  the  war,  are 
prone  to  believe  that  more  of  value  was  turned  into 
the  hoppers  of  paper-mills  than  exists  to-day  in  all  the 
public  and  private  collections  of  both  North  and  South. 
In  any  event  the  period  of  the  late  war  may  be  con- 
sidered as  an  era  in  the  vandalism  of  MSS.,  and  the 
gap  made  by  it  can  never  be  refilled.  .  .  .  There 
may  be  much  valuable  matter  still  in  the  hands  of 


1Rew  Enolanb  philosophers   307 


those  who  appropriated  it  at  the  South  and  are  indis- 
posed to  exhibit  their  booty,  but  as  yet  little  has 
publicly  appeared  from  that  source. 

We  read  of  the  Harrison  papers  at  Chan- 
tilly,  Virginia,  which  were  thrown  in  bulk 
from  the  garret  to  make  room  for  a  hospital, 
and  of  the  burning  of  many  of  them  by 
ignorant  soldiers.  But  the  sacrifice  of  auto- 
graphic material  has  not  been  confined  to  the 
South.  Dr.  Parsons  found  the  remains  of  the 
Pepperell  papers  rotting  in  an  outhouse  and 
the  purchaser  of  Johnson  Hall,  at  Johnstown, 
N.  Y.,  discovered  many  of  those  of  Sir  William 
Johnson  in  like  condition. 

One  feature  of  the  American  Antiquarian 
is  the  list  of  prices  prevailing  at  the  time, 
and  it  is  disheartening  to  the  long-suffering 
collector  of  the  present.  We  observe,  for 
example,  a  war  letter  (L.  S.)  of  Washington 
for  $10;  a  fine  folio  of  Benjamin  Franklin 
for  $15;  a  three-page  quarto  letter  of  Joseph 
Hewes  (July,  1776!)  for  $25  (a  Hewes  letter 
is  rated  now  at  $100);  a  three-  page  letter  of 
Dickens  to  G.  P.  R.  James  for  $3;  —  but  to 
prolong  the  catalogue  would  be  too  painful. 


308    IRambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanfc 

Returning  to  the  destruction  of  autographs, 
I  have  a  sad  and  vivid  recollection  of  the 
fate  of  my  first  autographic  possession.  It 
was  a  written  order  of  General  E.  Kirby 
Smith,  C.  S.  A.,  brought  home  by  my  father 
when  he  returned  in  1863  from  the  Cumber- 
land Gap  campaign.  I  had  an  undefined 
impression  at  the  time  that  it  had  been 
wrested  by  my  sire  from  the  Rebel  warrior 
in  personal  combat.  Later  I  added  to  it  a 
letter  of  General  John  A.  Dix,  which  elevated 
my  solitary  specimen  to  the  dignity  of  a 
collection.  In  due  course  they  were  offered 
up  by  a  dear  old  feminine  devotee  of  the 
preserve  jar  and  the  gingerbread  pan,  upon 
the  domestic  altar;  a  proceeding  which  sus- 
pended my  collecting  mania  for  about  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century. 

One  of  the  most  heartrending  tragedies 
recorded  in  modern  history  is  the  burning  by 
Charles  Dickens  of  all  his  accumulated  letters 
and  papers  of  twenty  years  when  he  resumed 
his  residence  at  Gad's  Hill  in  1860.  The 
unpardonable  act  was  performed  in  an  open 
field,  where,  the  criminal  perpetrator  of  the 


1Rew  JBnglanfc  pbUosopbers   309 


outrage  says,  "they  sent  up  a  smoke  like 
the  genie  when  he  got  out  of  the  casket  on  the 
seashore  ;  and  as  it  was  an  exquisite  day  when 
I  began,  and  rained  heavily  when  I  finished, 
I  suspect  my  correspondence  of  having  over- 
cast the  face  of  the  heavens."  Strangely 
enough,  he  seems  not  to  have  noticed  the 
obvious  fact  that  heaven  was  weeping  over  the 
wanton  sacrifice.  "This,"  says  Mr.  Kitton, 
in  Dickens  in  Pen  and  Pencil,  "is  probably 
the  most  valuable  bonfire  on  record  as  regards 
the  nature  of  its  constituents;  it  is  difficult 
to  conceive  what  sum  could  be  obtained  at 
the  present  time  by  the  disposal  of  such  an 
extensive  collection  of  autographs,  which 
must  have  had  a  remarkable  literary  value 
as  well  as  a  pecuniary  one."  Dickens  justi- 
fied himself  on  the  ground  that  he  was  "daily 
seeing  improper  uses  made  of  confidential 
letters,  on  addressing  them  to  a  public  audi- 
ence that  has  no  business  with  them."  But 
there  must  have  been  a  very  infinitesimal 
part  of  the  correspondence  so  deadly  as  all 
that,  and  the  danger  was  negligible.  Dickens  's 
own  letters  about  his  separation  from  his 


310    IRambles  in  Butograpb  Xanb 

wife,  which  he  himself  "addressed  to  a  public 
audience  that  had  no  business  with  them," 
were  far  more  unfit  for  the  public  than  any  of 
those  which  he  destroyed  could  possibly  have 
been;  and  it  would  have  been  no  great  task 
to  protect  the  sanctity  of  the  burned  letters 
so  long  as  such  protection  was  needed.  An 
indignant  writer  in  the  Antiquarian  utters  a 
plaintive  wail  over  the  holocaust,  which  is 
too  diffuse  for  quotation.  By  some  freak 
of  fate,  the  manuscripts  of  Dickens's  books 
have  been  unusually  well  preserved,  most 
of  them  having  been  given  to  John  Forster, 
who  left  them  as  a  legacy  to  the  South  Ken- 
sington Museum.  The  manuscript  of  Our 
Mutual  Friend  became  the  property  of  G.  W. 
Childs,  and  was  by  him  bequeathed  to  the 
Drexel  Institute  in  Philadelphia,  although 
the  South  Kensington  authorities  offered 
£1200  for  it;  the  Christmas  Carol,  given  to 
Thomas  Mitton,  went  to  America  for  a  price 
of  £2000;  and  the  manuscript  of  The  Haunted 
Man  in  some  way  disappeared. 

When  we  think  of  the  enormous  values 
placed  upon  the  manuscripts  of  distinguished 


IRew  Englanb  ipMIosopbera   311 


authors,  we  cannot  escape  a  feeling  of  despair 
over  the  destruction  of  so  many.  I  have 
never  forgiven  Moore,  Murray,  and  Hobhouse 
for  burning  the  manuscript  of  Byron's  auto- 
biography in  1824,  even  if  Mr.  Broadley  does 
whisper  that  a  duplicate  is  supposed  to  exist; 
but  he  adds  tantalisingly  that  its  present 
whereabouts  is  unknown.  It  was  a  crime, 
whether  we  regard  it  from  a  literary,  a  bio- 
graphical, or  an  autographic  point  ot  view. 
Many  manuscripts  suffer  the  fate  of  Rab 
about  which  the  good  Doctor  Brown  of 
Edinburgh  wrote:  "I  am  quite  sorry  that 
I  cannot  give  you  the  manuscript  of  'Rab.' 
Only  three  days  ago  I  found  it  in  my  desk  and 
threw  it  into  the  waste-basket,  and  by  this 
time  it  is  in  ashes  and  up  the  chimney." 
After  the  printer  has  finished  with  them, 
they  are  apt  to  be  consigned  to  the  rubbish 
heap,  unless  the  writer  is  peculiarly  conscious 
of  his  merits,  or  some  admiring  friend  —  like 
John  Forster  —  cherishes  them  fondly,  or  some 
publisher  has  an  unusual  appreciation  of 
them.  Now  that  the  lordly  typographical 
artist  disdains  to  look  at  anything  in  the  pen 


312    IRambles  in  Hutograpb  %anb 

and  ink  way,  we  have  fallen  into  that  destitute 
state  when  we  actually  buy  typewritten 
monstrosities  which  are  vaunted  in  the  cata- 
logues as  having  "numerous  corrections  by 
the  author,"  a  sorry  substitute  for  the  old- 
fashioned  manuscript.  Of  a  somewhat  similar 
nature  are  "authors'  corrected  proof  sheets," 
which  are  not  entitled  to  a  place  in  an  auto- 
graph collection.  I  have  some  myself.  Yet  it 
is  not  so  long  since  real  manuscripts  were  as 
cheap  as  an  A.  L.  S.  of  a  modern  novelist.  In 
1831  the  MS.  of  Ivanhoe  brought  £12,  that 
of  The  Abbot  £14,  and  that  of  Kenilworth 
£18;  while  in  1889  one  page  of  The  Abbot 
was  sold  in  London  for  £17. 

The  autographed  book — by  which  I  mean 
a  book  which  once  belonged  to  a  man  of 
renown  and  in  which  he  wrote  his  name,  not 
a  book  with  a  letter  pasted  in  it — has  a  greater 
charm,  for  it  blends  the  autographic  element 
with  that  of  personal  association.  The 
collecting  of  such  books  is  only  a  by-product 
of  autograph  collecting,  but  I  am  disposed 
to  believe  that  the  average  man,  not  a  col- 
lector, feels  more  interest  in  such  a  book  than 


flew  JEnglanb  pbilosopbere   313 


he  does  in  a  simple  letter.  We  are  all  con- 
scious of  an  attraction  about  the  book  which 
speaks  to  us  of  the  former  owner  in  a  pecu- 
liarly pleasant  way.  I  am  fond  of  my  copy 
of  The  Vicar  of  Wakefield  with  "Nathaniel 
Hawthorne,  Salem,  Mass."  on  the  flyleaf, 
"Nath.  Hawthorne,  Bow.  Coll.  Maine"  on 
the  title,  and  divers  little  notes  on  the  blank 
pages,  including  these  lines,  which  show  that 
like  most  young  men  in  their  college  days, 
or  later  for  that  matter,  Hawthorne  was  not 
unmindful  of  "the  eternal  feminine": 

When  lovely  woman  stoops  to  folly 
And  finds  too  late  that  men  betray 
What— 

But  there  he  either  forgot  the  rest  of  the 
quotation  or  turned  his  mind  to  some  other 
subject.  There  is  tender  association  too  in 
the  copy  of  Poe's  Poems  dedicated  to  Mrs. 
Browning,  in  which  is  written:  "Given  to  Mrs. 
Benzon — partly  on  account  of  the  poetry, 
partly  on  that  of  the  dedication  at  page  33 — 
with  all  affectionate  wishes  of  Robert  Brown- 
ing, March  7,  1867."  We  look  with  curiosity 


3  H    1RambIc0  in  Hutograpb  Xanfc 

on  the  old  Hebrew  Grammar  (1721)  with 
the  inscription  on  the  title-page,  "Thomas 
Carlyle,  1828";  on  Hayley's  Life  of  Milton, 
with  "Gulielmus  Cowper,  Gulielmus  Hay  ley, 
1796"  on  the  flyleaf  and  "Win.  Cowper" 
on  the  second  title,  with  Cowper's  bookplate; 
on  the  Elzevir  Sallust,  with  "J.  Swift"  on 
the  title;  and  on  the  copy  of  The  Pleasures  of 
Hope  and  other  Poems,  with  an  inscription  by 
Thomas  Campbell:  "To  his  Sister,  Mary 
Campbell,  from  the  author.  It  is  almost 
unnecessary  to  say  with  what  cordial  affection 
the  giver  presents  this  token  of  esteem." 
I  wish  that  I  could  have  more  confidence 
in  the  large-paper  copy  of  a  poem  by  Ambrose 
Phillips  with  the  signatures  of  "A.  Pope"  and 
"H.  Walpole."  It  seems  almost  "too  good 
to  be  true,"  and  while  I  make  no  accusations 
against  it,  I  am  aware  that  the  reproduction 
of  such  well-known  autograph  signatures 
on  a  page  of  an  old  book  is  not  beyond  the 
skill  of  a  very  ordinary  forger,  and  the  en- 
thusiast who  invests  good  money  in  such  a 
purchase  must  suffer  at  times  from  melan- 
choly scepticism  unless  he  obtains  for  his 


ZTwo  IRew  lEnglanb  Ipbilosopbers   315 

precious  volume   a  fairly  well   authenticated 
pedigree. 

The  grave  and  serious  collector  who  over- 
comes his  natural  reserve  sufficiently  to  write 
about  his  hobby  is  much  given  to  dwelling 
on  the  value  of  autographs  as  historical 
memorials  and  upon  their  educational  im- 
portance, anxious  to  justify  to  the  world  his 
fondness  for  the  objects  of  his  fancy.  I  fear 
that  I  have  not  treated  the  theme  with  proper 
dignity,  and  have  exhibited  a  tendency  to 
under-statement.  Bellenden  Ker  said  of 
Lord  Brougham  after  he  was  gone,  "There 
is  always  a  foundation  of  truth  in  his  state- 
ments, but  he  was  such  a  terrible  exaggerator." 
"No,  no,"  was  Lyndhurst's  comment,  "I  do 
not  admit  that.  /  consider  that  the  worst 
exaggerator  is  the  person  who  under-states." 
There  may  be  some  truth  in  Lyndhurst's 
remark,  but  in  our  times  there  is  not  much 
disposition  towards  that  sort  of  exaggeration. 
I  have  not  been  consciously  guilty  of  it,  but 
I  have  not  felt  inclined  to  imitate  a  political 
campaign  chairman  and  "claim  everything" 


316    IRambles  in  Hutograpb  Xanb 

for  the  collector;  I  am  content  merely  to 
ask  for  him  a  moderate  share  of  the  respect 
which  the  world  gives  to  those  who  devote 
themselves  to  worthy  and  innocuous  pur- 
suits. 


INDEX 


Abbot,  The,  price  of  manu- 
script of,  312 

Abbott  (Lord  Tenterden), 
Eldon  writes  of,  222 

Abdul  Hamid,  Sultan,  jewelled 
ornaments  of,  25 

Abdy,  Journal  of  Residence 
and  Tour  in  United  States, 
etc.,  by,  89 

Abele,  Colonel  James,  letter, 
from  Greene  to,  quoted, 

243 
Addington,  Cranworth  speaks 

of,  227 
Ailesbury,     Walpole's    letters 

to  the  Countess  of,  135 
Ainsworth,  William  Harrison, 

letter   from   Thackeray   to, 

quoted,  193 
Ainsworth   and    His    Friends, 

William  Harrison  by  S.  M. 

Ellis,  193 

Aitken,  Life  of  Steele  by,  162 
Alba     Amicorum,     Milton 

writes,  62 
Albert     Edward,     Prince     of 

Wales,     signature    of,     103 
Albert,  Prince,  autograph  of,  on 

sale,  25 
Alcibiades,  supposed  letter  to 

Pericles  from,  42 
Alcott,  Thoreau  receives  help 

from,  296 

Aldersey,  Clive  sends  for,  170 
Aldrich,  T.  B.,  letter  to  Morris 

from,  quoted,  274 
Alexander  the  Great,  supposed 

letter  to  Aristotle  from,  42 


All  Saints  &  St.  Julian's,  St. 
Leonards  writes  about,  226 

A.  L.  S.,  referred  to,  12 

Amazon,  reference  to,  24 

America,  80 

American  Antiquarian  Maga- 
zine, article  about  Spring 
published  in  the,  37;  a 
quarterly  publication,  306; 
quoted,  306;  prevailing 
prices  listed  in,  307 

American  Lands  and  Letters, 
Mitchell  speaks  of  Thoreau 
in  his,  295 

"Among  My  Autographs"  by 
Mendenhall,  87 

Andr6,  capture  of,  243 

AngoulSme,  watermark  on 
paper,  42 

Anne,  Queen,  days  of,  149 

Antient  Metaphysics  by  James 
Burnett  referred  to,  168 

Appleton,  Cyclopaedia  of 
American  Biography  by, 

37 

Aristotle,  supposed  letter  from 

Alexander  the  Great  to,  42 
Arnold,     Benedict,    letter    to 

Governor      Clinton      from, 

quoted,  243 
Arnold,  John  H.  V.,  letter  to 

author,  quoted,  74 
Ashore    and    Afloat,    Cooper, 

146 
Asquith,    Mr.,    autograph    of, 

referred  to,  22 
Atlay,  Mr.,  J.  B.,  The  Victorian 

Chancellors  by,  220 


317 


Unbei 


Australia,  80 

Autograph,  The,  quotation 
from  Lowell  in,  55 

Autograph  Collecting  by  Dr. 
Henry  T.  Scott,  47 

Autograph  collectors,  weak- 
nesses of,  28;  shrewd  bar- 
gains of,  29;  deceiving  of, 
33  ff.;  Boswell  said  to  be 
first  of,  61;  advice  to,  99; 
Hutton's  idea  of , 129;  devices 
of,  174  ff. — Burns,  Charles 
De  Forest,  109;  Cicero,  60; 
Chasles,  M.,  41;  Daniel, 
George,  12;  Hough  ton, 
Lord,  20;  Hutton,  Laurence, 
93 ;  Mendenhall,  Laurence, 
87;  Milnes,  Richard,  20; 
Morrison,  Alfred,  19;  Pliny, 
60;  Raffles,  Doctor,  19; 
Riddle,  William,  174;  Robin- 
son, Charles,  174;  Rogers, 
Samuel,  104;  Simpson, 
Samuel,  124;  Sprague, 
William  B.,  89;  Turner, 
Dawson,  16;  Upcott, 
William,  16 

"Autograph  Cottage,"  home 
of  William  Upcott,  16 

Autograph  experts,  Mr.  Bow- 
den,  Mr.  Burns,  and  Mr. 
Benjamin,  37 

Autographs  of  Remarkable 
Personages  Conspicuous  in 
English  History  by  Nichols, 
48 

Bacon,  Lord,  Campbell  writes 

of,  230 

Bacon,    Sir    Nicholas,    Camp- 
bell writes  of,  230 
Badeau,  General  Adam,  letter 

from  Motley  to,  quoted,  270 
Balfour,    Mr.,    autograph    of, 

referred  to,  22;  168 
Balfour's  Reports,  MSS.  of  old 

Sea  Laws  of  Scotland  in,  160 
Bancroft,    writes  of   Carleton 

240;  letter  to  Taylor  from, 

quoted,  260  ff. 


Bancrofts,  the,  speak  of  Byron. 

86 
Bankus,  Mr.,  Burnett's  book 

to  be  sent  to,  168 
Banvard,    John,     rhyme    by, 

quoted,  53 
Beale,  Mr.,  engages  Thackeray 

to  lecture,  193 

Beattie,  Professor,  quoted,  144 
Bellingham,  Richard,  affidavit 

sworn  by,  234 
Belvoir,  Sir  Lyle's  exploration 

at,  304 
Benjamin,  Mr.,  an  autograph 

expert,  37;  89,  100 
Bennett,  Arnold,  reference  to, 

5 

Bensley,  T.,  Gray's  poems  in 
edition  printed  by,  136 

Benson,  Mr.,  approves  Rus- 
kin's  theory,  5 

Benzon,  Mrs.,  book  given  to, 

313 

Bernard,  Francis,  Trevelyan 
writes  of,  235;  letter  written 
by,  quoted,  236  ff. 

Bernard,  Professor  Montague, 
comes  to  the  United  States, 
217 

Berry,  Miss,  18 

Bethell,  Richard,  letter  to  the 
Lord  Justice  from,  quoted, 
229 

Bexley,  Lord,  autograph  of, 
90 

Bigelow  Papers  by  Lowell,  121 

Biographical  Sketch,  Ireland's, 
quoted,  286 

Bixby,  W.  H.,  Broadley  mis- 
spells, 77 

Bliss,  Cornelius  M.,  anecdote 
related  about,  49 

Bonaparte,  Prince  Roland, 
opinion  of  L B ,  25 

Bookman,  The,  3 

Books  in  Manuscript  by  Fal- 
coner Madan,  n 

Booth,  Edwin,  wrote  about 
Hutton,  130 

Borneo,  hunters  of,  9 


linker 


319 


Boston,  forged  pass  of  Wash- 
ington found  in,  39 

Boswell,  James,  spoken  of  as 
first  autograph  collector,  61 ; 
Johnson's  letters  published 
in  Hill's  edition  of,  163; 
correspondence  of  Rev.  W. 
J.  Temple  and,  found,  303 

Bowden,  Mr.,  autograph  ex- 
pert, 37 

Boyesen,  talks  to  Young  Girls' 
Club, 265 

Boyle,  Hon.  Robert,  forged 
letters  from  Pascal  to,  42 

Braddon,  Miss,  letter  of, 
quoted,  116 

Brazenose  College,  Mr.  Madan 
a  Fellow  of,  1 1 

Breton,  Cape,  to  be  given  up 
by  France,  171 

Brewer,  value  of  letter  of,  101 

Brewster,  Sir  David,  life  of 
Newton  written  by,  43; 
declares  letters  forgeries,  43 ; 
letter  of,  to  Sir  Madden 
quoted,  43 

Brick,  Mr.  Jefferson,  his  esti- 
mate of  Lowell,  64 

Bright,  John,  an  admirer  of 
the  United  States,  206; 
Ellenborough  writes  of,  210; 
letter  to  Greeley  from, 
quoted,  210 

Bristol,  England,  Gwinnett  a 
merchant  from,  98 

British  Museum,  Upcott's  col- 
lection bought  by,  16;  in 

Broadley,  Mr.,  Chats  on  Auto- 
graphs by,  30,  p.  47;  writes  of 
forgeries,  35;  retreat  in  Eng- 
land of,  48;  A  Practical 
Guide  for  the  Collector  by, 
48;  refers  to  Pliny  and 
Cicero,  6p;  quoted,  70;  au- 
thor at  issue  with,  76;  re- 
ferred to,  88,  93,  116 

Brooks,  Shirley,  Life  of,  by 
Layard,  200;  letter  to  Doeg 
from,  quoted,  201 ;  entry 
from  Diary  of,  201;  model 


autographed  note  of,  quoted, 
202 ;  letter  to  Artemus  Ward 
from,  quoted,  203 
Brougham,  Lord,  referred  to, 
90;  the  most  versatile  of 
the  Victorian  Chancellors, 
221;  Atlay  writes  of,  221; 
handwriting  of,  223;  letter 
from  St.  Leonards  to,  quoted, 
226;  Bellenden  Ker  writes  of , 

315 
Browne,  Charles  Farrar,  203, 

275 

Browning,  Robert,  140;  book 
given  to  Mrs.  Benzon  by, 

313 

Brownson,  Orestes  Augustus, 
letter  written  by,  quoted, 

83 

Bryant,  W.  C.,  Poe  writes  of, 
64;  letter  to  Tefft  from, 
quoted,  121;  Century  Club 
celebrates  birthday  of,  260; 
Halpine  writes  of,  280 

Bryce,  Mr.,  writes  of  Lowe, 
213;  writes  of  Lowe  and 
Disraeli,  216 

Buckle,  History  of  Civilisation 
by,  204;  referred  to,  284 

Bumble,  Mr.,  referred  to,  284 

Bunner,  writes  to  Hutton,  130 

Burdett,  Sir  Francis,  auto- 
graph of,  90;  suspended 
from  the  Council,  170 

Burgoyne,  General,  ink-stand 
belonging  to,  114 

Burke,  Edmund,  notes  of 
speeches  against  Hastings 
by,  19;  letter  to  Miss 
Burney  from,  quoted,  165 

Burleigh,  Cecil,  Lord,  account 
signed  by,  301 

Burnett,  James,  becomes  Lord 
Monboddo,  167;  letter  to 
Cadell  from,  quoted,  168 

Burney,  Miss,  Dr.  Johnson's 
"Pretty  Fanny,"  164:  Cecilia 
and  Evelina  by,  165;  letter 
from  Burke  to,  quoted,  165 

Burns,  Charles  De  Forest,  an 


320 


Unbei 


Burns — Continued 
autograph  expert,  37,  66; 
forged  autograph  of,  by  A. 
H.  Smith,  41;  skill  in  buy- 
ing of,  109;  American  Anti- 
quarian conducted  by,  306 

Burroughs,  John,  speaks  of 
Thoreau,  293,  294;  writes 
of  Thoreau,  298 

Butler,  William  Allen,  speaks 
of  Samuel  Rogers,  105; 
handwriting  compared  to 
Rossetti's,  151 

Buzot,  finding  of  letters  of 
Mme.  Roland  and,  304 

Byron,  Henry  James,  hand- 
writing of,  9;  forged  letters 
of,  41;  letter  to  autograph 
collector  from,  quoted,  86; 
the  Bancrofts  speak  of, 
86;  letter  of,  105;  demands 
for  autographs  of,  140; 
"  Oscar  of  Alva  "  by,  quoted, 
141;  price  of  a  poem  of,  143 
burning  of  autobiography 

by,  31 1 

Byron,  Mrs.,  letter  to  Caw- 
thorn  from,  quoted,  143 


Cadell,  Thomas,  letter  from 
Burnett  to,  quoted,  168 

Caesar,  Julius,  supposed  letter 
from  Cleopatra  to,  42;  re- 
ferred to,  114 

Cairns,  a  Victorian  Chancellor, 

221 

Calcutta,    Clive    returns    to, 

169 
Camelford,   Lord,   referred  to 

by  Mrs.  Siddons,  27 
Campbell,    Lord,    biographies 

of     Chancellors     by,     220; 

letter    from,     quoted,     230 
Campbell,  Rev.  Dr.,  discovery 

of  the  diary  of,  300 
Campbell,     Thomas,     inscrip- 
tion by,  314 
Canada,  Smith's  exile  to,  21; 

Spring  works  in,  37 


Cardpyn,  Camillus,  Milton 
writes  in  album  of,  62 

Carleton,  Sir  Guy,  letter  to 
Baron  von  Riedesel  from, 
quoted,  241;  resigns  as 
Governor  of  Canada,  241 

Carlyle,  Mrs.,  De  Quincey's 
appreciation  of ,  186 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  writes  of 
Frederick  the  Great,  112;  re- 
ferred to,  179;  letter  to  his 
wife  from,  quoted,  187  ff.; 
name  on  flyleaf,  314 

Cato,  supposed  letter  from 
Cleopatra  to,  42 

Cawthorn,  James,  letter  from 
Byron's  mother  to,  quoted, 

143 
Cecil,  Lord  Burleigh,  account 

signed  by,  301 

Cecilia  by  Miss  Burney,  165 
Century,   tribute   to    Emerson 

in  the,  292 
Century  Club,  The,  Bryant's 

birthday  celebrated  by,  260 
Chancellors,    Campbell's    bio- 
graphies of  all  the,  220 
Chantilly,  Va.,  Harrison  papers 

found  at,  307 
"Chapter     on     Autography" 

by    Edgar    Allan    Poe,    64 
Chase,  Salmon,  P.,  letter  from 

Halpine    to,    quoted,    278; 

Chief- Justice  of  the  United 

States,  278 
Chasles,     M.,     swindled     by 

Vrain-Lucas,    41 ;    book   on 

gravitation    by,    42;    shows 

forged   letter    to    Academy, 

43 

Chatham,  Shelburne  in  sym- 
pathy with,  171;  letter  writ- 
ten by,  quoted,  173 

Chats  on  Autographs  by  Mr. 
Broadley,  30,  31,  47;  quoted, 
70 

Chelmsford,  one  of  the 
Victorian  Chancellors,  221 

Childs,  G.  W.,  owns  a  Dickens 
manuscript,  310 


321 


Choiseul  quoted,  171 
Christian,  King  of  Denmark, 

80 

Christmas    Carol,   the    manu- 
script of,  given  to  Milton, 

310 
Cicero,  an  autograph  collector, 

60 
Clarissa,  a  character  in   The 

Confederacy,  12 
Clemens,    Samuel     (M  ark 

Twain),    letter    to    Taylor 

from,  quoted,  265 
Clement    VII,    Pope,    letters 

from  Wolsey  to,  found,  302 
Cleopatra,     supposed     letters 

to  Cato,  Caesar,  and  Pompey 

from,  42 

Cleveland,       Grover,      hand- 
writing   of,    10;    autograph 

of,  101 
Clinton,     Governor     George, 

letter     from      Arnold     to, 

quoted,  243 
Clive,  Robert,  Baron  of  Plas- 

sey    169;    letter    to    Pybus 

from,  quoted,  169 
Cobden,    Richard,    letter    to 

Riddle   from,   quoted,    178; 

a    United    States    admirer, 

206;    McCarthy    writes    of, 

207;  letter  to  Osborne  from, 

quoted,  208 
Cobham,     Lady,     the     Elegy 

shown  to,  133;  bequests  of, 

134 

Coleman,  Mr.,  149 
Coleridge,  Lloyd  a  friend  of, 

138 
Collector,    The,   article    about 

Spring  published  in  the,  37, 

50 

Collins,     Miss,     letter     from 
Locker- Lampson  to,  quoted, 

145 
Commemoration  Ode  by  Lowell 

121 
Confederacy,     The,    quotation 

from,  12 
Congreve,  156 


Convocation  of  Bishops  re- 
ferred to,  23 

Cooper,  Ashore  and  Afloat, 
by, 146 

Copley,  J.,  letter  of,  quoted, 
224 

Cosmopolitan  Magazine,  article 
in,  82 

Cottenham,  Lord,  a  Victorian 
Chancellor,  221 ;  handwriting 
of,  223 

Cotton,  Sir  Robert,  finds 
Magna  Charta,  301 

Council,  suspension  of  mem- 
bers from  the,  170 

Cowper,  Gulielmus,  name  on 
flyleaf,  314 

Cranworth,  Lord,  a  Victorian 
Chancellor,  22;  letter  to  Mr. 
Panizzi  from,  quoted,  227 

Crisis,  The,  a  pamphlet  by 
Richard  Steelc,  161 

Crisp,  "Daddy,"  Miss  Burney 
writes,  165 

Croesus  referred  to,  22 

Cullum,  Sir  Thomas,  paper 
borrowed  from,  34 

Curse  of  Kehama,  The,  intro- 
ductory lines  from,  147 

Curtis,  George  William,  letter 
from  Emerson  to,  quoted, 
281;  Thoreau  receives  help 
from,  296 

Cuttuch,  170 

Cyclopaedia  of  American  Bio- 
graphy by  Appleton,  37 

Danforth,  Elliott,  98 

Daniel,  George,  Hazlitt  speaks 

of,  12 

Davey  quoted,  14 
Davis,  Bancroft,  Taylor  writes 

of,  256 
De    Libris,     quotation     from 

prologue  of,  i 
De  Quincey,  Thomas,  records 

of,  108;  writes  of  Lloyd,  138; 

Dr.  Garnett  speaks  of,  139; 

gives  opinion  of  Evelyn,  158; 

referred  to,  179;  letter  to  a 


322 


Unber 


De  Quincey — Continued 
lawyer  from,  quoted,  182  ff.; 
Carlyle  writes  of,  186 

Denmark,  American  Minister 
to,  80 

Dickens,  Charles,  letter  from, 
on  sale,  25;  letter  to  Riddle 
from,  quoted,  177;  letter  to 
Thomas  Milton  from,  quoted 
196  ff.;  74;  price  of  letter  of, 
307;  burns  his  letters  and 
papers,  308 

Dickens  in  Pen  and  Pencil 
quoted,  309 

Dictionary  of  National  Bio- 
graphy by  Dr.  Garnett, 
J39;  by  Sir  Leslie  Stephen, 
2O4;Bernard  spoken  of  in, 

239 
Disraeli,     quoted,     note,    10; 

Lowe's  hostility  to,  213 
Divine    Tragedy,    The    Taylor 

receives  advance  sheets  of, 

265 
Dix,  General  John  A.,  a  letter 

of,  308 

Dobson,  Austin,  i 
Doctor,  The, by  Sou  they,  quoted 

49 
Doeg,    W.    H.f    letter    from 

Brooks  to,  quoted,  201 
" Doraku, "  meaning  "hobby, " 

94 

Dorlon,     William     L.,     letter 

from     Mr.     Eggleston     to, 

quoted,  84 
D'Orsay,  Count,  residence  of, 

152 
Draper,  Dr.  Lyman  C.,  treatise 

on  autographs  by,  47 
Drexel    Institute,    manuscript 

of  Our  Mutual  Friend  given 

to,  3 10 
Dryden,    an    assignment    of, 

156;     receipts    signed     by, 

found,  302 
Dudley,    Governor     Thomas, 

quotation    from     document 

signed  by,  234 
Dumfries,    Courier,    the,     190 


East    India    Company,    work 

of  Robert  Clive  in  the,  169; 

Clive  writes  of  prospects  of, 

170     , 
E B ,   letter   to    Louis 

Philippe    from,   quoted,    79 
Edinburgh,  famous  forgeries  of, 

4i 
Edward    VI,    manuscript    in 

hand  of,  found,  302 
Eggleston,   Edward,   letter  to 

Mr.   Dorlon    from,   quoted, 

84 
Egremont,   Lord,   letter  from 

Shelburne  to,   quoted,    172 
Elder,      letter      written      by, 

quoted,   222 

Elegy,  manuscript  of  the,  133 
Elizabeth,  Queen,  letter  writ- 
ten by,  found,  302 
Ellenborough,  Lord,  writes  of 

Cobden  and  Bright,  210 
Ellesmere,      Lord,     Campbell 

writes   of,  230 
Ellis,  S.  M.,  William  Harrison 

Ainsworth  and  His  Friends 

by,  193 

Elmo,  Whitwell,  speaks  of 
Gray's  poem,  note,  137 

Elzevir,  Sallust,  J.  Swift 
marked  in,  314 

Emerson,  Poe  writes  of,  64; 
letter  to  Curtis  from,  quoted, 
281;  prophet  and  seer,  282; 
Ireland  writes  of,  286;  be- 
comes Rev.  H.  Ware's 
assistant,  288;  tribute  by 
Emma  Lazarus  to,  292; 
Thoreau  lives  with,  296; 
260 

Emmet,  Dr.,  referred  to,  73, 
104 

Endicott,  Governor,  quotation 
from  a  document  signed 
by,  234 

English  periodical  quoted,  8,  9 

"  Essays  on  Taste, "  Robert 
Southey's  criticism  of,  2 

Evans,  catalogues  of,  referred 
to,  18 


flnfcei 


323 


Evelina  by  Miss  Burney,  165 

Evelyn,  John,  Diary  of,  158; 

friendship   of    Pepys     and, 

159;  letter  to  Pepys  from, 

quoted,   159   ff. 

Evening  Post,  reference  to  the, 

47 
Everett,  Sidney,  Taylor  writes 

of,  256 
Excursions   of  a   Book   Lover 

by   Mr.    Frederic   Rowland 

Marvin,  68 

Fairfax  papers,  found  in  box, 

304 

Faugere,  Mr.  Prosper,  declares 
letters  forgeries,  43 

Field,  Cyrus,  Cobden  writes 
of,  208;  gives  banquet  to 
the  Commission,  217;  letter 
from  Northcote  to,  quoted, 
218;  talks  to  Young  Girls' 
Club, 265 

Field,  Osgood  &  Co.,  offer  to 
Harte  from,  250;  letter  from 
Harte  to,  quoted,  251 

Fields,  Mrs.  James  T.,  note 
from,  quoted,  123;  specimen 
of  Shelley  belonging  to,  153 

Fisher,  John,  servant  to  Mr. 
Milton,  156 

Fiske,  Professor  Willard,  letter 
from  Taylor  to,  quoted,  255 

Fitzgerald,  Percy,  Memories 
of  an  Author,  by,  80 

Fitzharding,  Lady,  150 

F J.,  Reverend,  a  despiser 

of  autographs,  56;  note 
written  to  a  lady  by,  quoted, 

57 
Fletcher,  catalogue  of,  referred 

to,  18 

Floyer,   Clive  sends  for,   170 
Forster,  John,  Life  of  Dickens 

by,  referred  to,  81 ;  Dickens's 

manuscripts   given   to,   310 
Fosbrook,    Lord,    referred    to 

by  Mrs.  Siddons,  26 
Fox,  Charles  James,  letter  of, 

105 


France,  Spain  in  war  against 
England  with,  171 

Franco-Prussian  war,  Lowell 
alludes  to,  268 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  Robert 
Spring  forges  autograph  of, 
37;  rescue  of  letters  of,  305; 
price  of  folio  of,  307 

Franklin,  Lady,  152 

Fraser,  letter  from  Thackeray 
to,  quoted,  195 

Fraser's  Magazine,  Thacker- 
ay's contributions  to,  194 

Frederick  the  Great,  Carlyle 
writes  of,  112 

"From  Greenland's  Icy  Moun- 
tains," original  draft  of,  301 

Frowde,  Henry,  76 

Frowde,  James  Anthony,  wrong 
spelling  of,  76 

Gargery,   Joe,   referred   to,   5 

Garnett,  Dr.,  Dictionary  of 
National  Biography  by,  139 

Geneva,  Milton  in,  62 

Gentleman 's  Magazine,  fac- 
similes published  in,  33 

Germaine,  240 

Gladstone,  Mr.,  letter  to  au- 
tograph collectors  from, 
quoted,  85;  Rideing  writes 
of,  125;  letter  to  Rideing 
from,  quoted,  126 

Gladstone  Reform  Bill,  Lowe 
writes  about  the,  214 

Gloucester,  Duchess  of,  letter 
from,  on  sale,  25 

Goodspeed,  C.  E.,  a  note  to, 
59;  curiosities  of,  78 

Gosse,  Mr.,  quoted,  4;  speaks 
of  Gray  and  Miss  Speed, 
note,  133;  135 

Graham,  William,  Carlyle 
writes  of,  19 

Granger,  James,  the  Shiplake 
parson,  75 

Grant,  General,  a  paper  signed 
by,  20 

Gray,  Thomas,  romance  of 
Miss  Speed  and,  133  ff.; 


324 


flnbei 


Gray,  Thomas — Continued 
manuscript  by,  133;  Miss 
Speed  and  Mrs.  Schaub 
call  on,  134;  poems  in  Mit- 
ford  edition,  134;  different 
versions  of  poems  by,  136 
ff.;  suspended  from  the 
Council,  170 

"Great  Punch  Editor,  A," 
the  Life  of  Shirley  Brooks 
by  G.  S.  Layard,  200 

Greeley,  Horace,  on  autograph 
hunters,  83;  letter  from 
Bright  to,  quoted,  210 

Green,  Benjamin,  servant  to 
Mr.  Milton,  156 

Greenaway,  Kate,  great  value 
of  autograph  of,  103 

Greene,  Nathanael,  letter  to 
Colonel  Abele  from,  quoted, 

243 
Grenville,  reference  made  to, 

12 

Grey,  Lady  Jane,  130 

Griff  en,  Lord.,  150 

Grosvenor  and  Bunthorne  in 
Patience  referred  to,  62 

Guide  to  the  Collector,  quotation 
from,  14;  by  Scott  and 
Pavey,  48 

Gurney,  Mr.,  St.  Leonards 
writes  of  offer  made  to,  226 

Gwinnett,  Button,  holograph 
letters  of,  54;  signer  of  the 
Declaration  o  f  Independ- 
ence, 97 

Gwynne,  Nell,  autographed 
accounts  of,  found,  302 


Halsbury,  a  Victorian  Chan- 
cellor, 221 

Halpine,  Chas.  G.,  Miles 
O'Reilly  uses  nom  de  plume, 
of,  278;  letter  to  Chase  from, 
quoted,  280 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  letter 
from  Washington  to,  105; 
Rogers  writes  of  a  letter  from 
George  Washington  to,  156 


Hancock,  John,  handwriting 
of,  10 

Handwriting  of  prominent  peo- 
ple, description  of,  10 

Hanmer,  Sir  Thomas,  letter 
from  Prior  to,  quoted,  149; 
letter  from  Steele  to,  quoted, 
162 

Hannibal  referred  to,  77 

"Harding,  Emma"  Spring 
takes  alias  of,  37 

Hardinge,  George,  letter  from 
Mrs.  Siddons,  to,  26 

Harrison,  Colonel,  Lee  writes 
of,  246 

Harrison  papers,  finding  and 
burning  of,  307 

Hart,  Bob,  plea  of,  38 

Hart,  John,  autograph  of,  102 

Harte,  Bret,  first  appearance 
of  story  by,  249;  letter  to 
publishers  from,  quoted,  250; 
Underwood  succeeds,  263 ; 
talks  to  Young  Girls'  Club, 
256 

Harte,  Bret,  Life  of,  245 

Hastings,  Warren,  speech  by 
Burke  against,  19 

Hatherly,  a  Victorian  Chan- 
cellor, 221,  230;  letter  to 
Lady  Selborne  from,  quoted, 
231 

Hatton,  Sir  Christopher 
Campbell  writes  of,  230 

Haunted  Man,  The,  disappear- 
ance of  manuscript  of,  310 

Hawley  to  talk  to  Young 
Girls'  Club,  265 

Hawthorne,  Julian,  writes  of 
his  father,  272 

Hawthorne,  Nathaniel,  essay 
by,  quoted,  46,  47;  com- 
parison between  Poe  and, 
66;  indignant  at  autograph 
hunters,  122;  Julian  Haw- 
thorne writes  of,  272;  letter 
written  by,  quoted,  273; 
name  on  flyleaf,  313 

Hay,  Colonel,  Arnold  writes 
of,  245 


Inter 


325 


Hayes,  Mr.,  254 

Hayley,   Gulielmus,  name  on 

flyleaf,  314 
Hayward,       Esq.,       Solicitor, 

letter   from    P.    B.    Shelley 

to,  quoted,  153 
H  a  z  1  i  1 1,    William    Carew, 

quoted,  12 
Hearn,  Lafcadio,  collector  of 

Japanese  pipes,  94 
Heath,  Archbishop,  Campbell 

writes  of,  230 
Heath,  General,  Lee  writes  of, 

246 

Heber,  original  draft  of  "  Green- 
land's Icy  Mountains"  by, 

301 
Hebrew    grammar,     Carlyle's 

name  on  flyleaf  of,  314 
Hebrides,  Dr.  Johnson's  tour 

in,  144 
Henry   VI,   autograph   letters 

during  reign  of,  61 
Henry  VII,  autograph  letters 

during  reign  of,  61 
Herod,   supposed   letter   from 

Lazarus  to,  42 
Herschell,  Natural  Science,  by, 

192;  a  Victorian  Chancellor, 

221 

Hewes,  Joseph,  price  of  letter 
by,  307 

Hiawatha,  Taylor  writes  to 
Longfellow  about,  265 

Hill,  Dr.  George  Birkbeck, 
quoted,  14;  Talks  About 
Autographs  by,  35,  47;  ref- 
erence made  to  papers  of, 
48;  edition  of  Boswell  by, 
163 

History  of  Civilisation,  Buckle's, 
204 

History  of  English  Literature, 
by  Nicoll  and  Seccombe, 
reference  made  to,  61 

History  of  the  American  Revolu- 
tion by  Trevelyan,  quoted, 

235 

"Hobby  Club,  The,"  organisa- 
tion of,  49 


Hobhouse,  burning  of  Byron's 
autobiography  by,  311 

Hogg,  Mr.,  speaks  of  De 
Quincey,  185 

Holmes,  Oliver  Wendell,  princi- 
ples of,  60;  autograph  of, 
101;  graciousness  of,  116; 
letter  to  DeWolfe  Howe 
from,  119;  letter  to  Long- 
fellow from,  quoted,  120;  let- 
ter to  Taylor  from,  quoted, 
262;  letter  to  Underwood 
from,  quoted,  263 

Hood,  letter  to  F.  O.  Ward 
from,  quoted,  146 

Hopkins,  Stephen,  handwrit- 
ing of,  10 

Houghton,  Lord,  Smith  speaks 
of,  20 

Hours  of  Idleness,  "Oscar  of 
Alva"  in,  quoted,  140,  141 

Howe,  DeWolfe,  letter  from 
Holmes  to,  119 

Howe,  Sir  William,  240 

Howells  to  talk  to  Young 
Girls'  Club,  265 

Howitt's  German  Book,  146 

Hunt,  Leigh,  Procter  speaks 
of,  155;  referred  to,  179 

Hurst,  Bishop,  104 

Hurstbourn  Park,  reference  to, 

44 

Hutton,  Laurence,  library  of, 
93;  Talks  in  a  Library  by, 
127;  quotations  from  book 
by, 128, 129 


Iceland,  80 

Ichabod,  Whittier's  injustice  to 
Webster  in,  252 

Iddesleigh,  Lord,  see  Sir  Staf- 
ford Northcote,  2 

In  Memoriam  referred  to,  12 

Indiana,  forged  pass  of 
Washington  found  in,  39 

Ingersoll,  Robert,  interview 
with  Gladstone,  125 

Ireland,  Mr.,  Biographical 
Sketch  by,  quoted,  286 


326 


Irving,  Sir  Henry,  autograph 
of,  referred  to,  22;  Poe 
writes  of,  64 

Iscariot,  Judas,  supposed  letter 
to  Mary  Magdalene  from, 

42 

Islington  referred  to,  17 
Ivanhoe,  price  of  manuscript 

of,  312 

"Jackson,     Fanny"      Spring 

assumes  name  of,  38 
Jacob,  Mr.,  poems  given  to, 

133 

James,  Henry,   referred  to,  5 
Jameson,   Dr.,   autograph   of, 

referred  to,  22 

Jay  John,  value  of  letter  of,  101 
Jay  Mr.,  treasures  bought  by, 

301 
Jefferson,  Robert  Spring  forges 

autograph  of,  37 
Jenks,  Edward,  tells  of  "find," 

300 
Jerrold,  Blanchard,  speaks  of 

Thackeray  and  Ainsworth, 

194 

Jersey,  Lord  and  Lady,  150 
Johnson,     Dr.,     remark     of, 

quoted,  7;  Beattie  writes  of, 

144;  record  of  Dr.  Campbell's 

visit  to,  300 
Johnson,  Samuel,  letter  written 

by,  quoted,  163 
Johnson,  Sir  William,  discovery 

of  papers  of,  307 
Johnston,  Mr.,  Lee  writes  of, 

246 
Joline,  Mr.,  Mr.  Broadley  at 

issue  with,  70 
Jones,    J.     Beauchamp,     Poe 

writes  of,  64 

Jordan,  Mrs.,  reference  to,  140 
Journal    of   a    Residence    and 

Tour  in  the    United  States, 

by  Abdy,  89 

Katisha  in  the  Mikado,  re- 
ferred to,  3 


Keats,  Jenks  finds  manu- 
script book  of,  300;  72 

Kelsall,   Clive  sends  for,   170 

Kenilworth,  price  of  manu- 
script of,  312 

Kennedy,  John  S.,  false  manu- 
scripts bought  by,  41 

Ker,  Bellenden,  a  law  re- 
former, 225;  writes  of  Broug- 
ham, 3 15 

Kipling,  Rudyard,  manuscript 
of,  113;  referred  to,  116 

Kirtlebridge,  Carlyle  writes 
of,  189 

Kitton,  Mr.,  quoted,  309 

"Knapp,  The,"  Bradpole, 
Mr.  Broadley's  retreat,  48 

Lake  School,  Lloyd  a  poet  of, 

138 
Lamb,  Charles,  Lloyd  a  friend 

of,   138;  Procter  speaks  of 

his  memoir  of,  155 
Lamb  and  the  Lloyds,  Charles 

by,  E.  V.  Lucas,  138 
Lang,     Andrew,     Northcote's 

biographies,  218;  quoted,  219 
Lawrence,  Sir  Thomas,  owner 

of    Milton    document,    156 
Layard,  G.  S.f  Life  of  Shirley 

Brooks  by,  200 
Lazarus,  supposed  letter  from 

Herod  to,  42 
Lazarus,  Emma,  pays  tribute 

to  Emerson,  292 
L- — B ,  an  autograph  col- 
lector, 24 
Leading  American  Essayists  by 

Payne,  296 
Lear,  Edward,  letter  to  Miss 

Perry    from,     quoted      145 
Lee,  Richard  Henry,  a  letter 

written    by,    quoted,    245; 

as  an  orator,  248 
Leicester  suspended  from  the 

Council,  170 
Leman,     Rev.     Mr.,     poems 

given    to,    135 

Lenox  Library,  false  manu- 
scripts presented  to,  41 


Unfcci 


327 


Letters  of  Charles  Dickens,  The, 

195 

Letters  of  Lord  Chesterfield,  32 
Letters    to    the    Countess    of 

Ailesbury,     Walpole's,     135 
Life  of  Louis  Philippe,  146 
Lincoln,      Abraham,      Bright 

writes  of,   211 
Linley,    Mr.,    referred   to   by 

Mrs.  Siddons,  26 
Liverpool,  Dr.,  Raffles  of,  19 
Lives,    Sanderson's     reference 

to,  73 
Lloyd,    Charles,    romance    of 

Sarah  Pemberton  and,  138; 

a  minor  poet,    138;   writes 

of  elopement  to  Southey,  139 
Locker,     Frederick,     Holmes 

writes   of,    1 20 
Locker-Lampspn,      Frederick, 

letter  to  Miss  Collins  from, 

quoted,   145;   note  written, 

by,  quoted,  205 
London,  sale  of  autographs  in, 

25;i7 

Longfellow,  principles  of,  60; 
graciousness  of,i  16;  line  from 
Journal  of,  quoted,  118; 
letter  from  Holmes  to, 
quoted,  120;  letter  to  Taylor 
from,  quoted,  267 

Long  Story,  The,  by  Gray,  134 

Lord  of  Himself  by  Under- 
wood, referred  to,  263 

Loud,  Mrs.,  M.  St.  Leon, 
Poe  writes  of,  64 

Louis,  Philippe,  King,  letter 
to,  quoted,  79 

Lowe,  Robert,  Viscount  Sher- 
brooke,  212;  letter  to  a 
friend  from,  quoted,  213; 
letter  from,  quoted,  214; 
opposes  Gladstone  bill,  216 

Lowell,  James  Russell,  refer- 
ence to,  45;  "For  An  Auto- 
graph" by,  quoted,  54;  quo- 
tation from,  55;  Mr.  Brick's 
estimate  of,  65;  surliness 
of ,  1 1 7 ;  letter  to  Taylor  from , 
quoted,  267;  speaks  of 


Thoreau,  293,  294;  sums  up 

Walden  matter,  298 
Lucas,   E.    V.,    Charles  Lamb 

and  the  Lloyds  by,  138 
Lucile  referred  to,  5 
"Luck    of    Roaring    Camp," 

first  appearance  of,  249 
Luther,    handwriting    of,    121 
Lyle,  Sir  H.  Maxwell,  explora- 
tions at  Belvoir,  304 
Lynch,  Jr.,  Thomas,    referred 

to,  15,  30;  holograph  letters 

of,  54;    value    of  signature 

of,  109 
Lyndhurst,  the  most  brilliant 

of  the  Victorian  Chancellors, 

221;    handwriting    of,    223; 

comment  by ,  3 1 5 
"Lyra  Autograph ica "  by  the 

author,  quoted,  51 
Lytton,    Bulwer,   letter   from, 

on  sale,  25 

Macaulay,  handwriting  of,  10; 
referred  to,  72 

Macdonald,  Sir  Hector,  auto- 
graph of,  referred  to,  22 

Maclaren,  Ian,  referred  to,  125 

Madan,  Mr.  Falconer,  quoted, 
II 

Madden,  Sir  Frederick,  Sir 
Brewster's  letter  to,  quoted, 

43 
Magdalene,    Mary,    supposed 

letter   from  Judas    Iscariot 

to,  42 
Magna    Charta,    Sir    Cotton 

finds  one  of  originals  of,  301 
Maitland,  Sir  R.,  collection  of 

Scottish  poems  belonging  to, 

1 60 

Mann,  Horace,  referred  to,  116 
Mansfield,  Earl  of,  Burnett's 

book  to  be  sent  to,  168 
Many    Celebrities   and   a    Few 

Others  by  William  H.  Ride- 
ing,  125 

Man-vat  referred  to,  49 
Marshall,  Chief  Justice,  value 

of  letter  of,  100 


328 


Unfcer 


Marvin,  Mr.  Frederick  Row- 
land, chapter  on  "Holo- 
graphs" in  book  by,  68; 
writes  of  Van  Buren,  69 

Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  ac- 
count of  execution  of,  found, 
301 

Mayhew,  Horace,  letter  of, 
200 

Mazarin  Bible,  most  expensive 
book  in  the  world,  29 

McCarthy,  Justin,  writes  of 
Cobden,  207;  Portraits  of  the 
Sixties  by,  214 

McClellan,  General,  Bright 
writes  of,  211 

Mclntosh,  Lachlan,  Button 
Gwinnett  killed  by,  98 

Mcjilton,  Poe  writes  of,  64 

McKinley,  Cornelius  Bliss, 
Secretary  of  the  Interior 
under,  49 

McLane,  Louis,  dispute  be- 
ween  Van  Buren  and,  107 

Mediaeval  Paleography,  Madan 
lecturer  of,  in  Oxford, 
II 

Melancthon,    handwriting   of, 

121 

Melville,  letter  from  Lowe  to, 

quoted,  214 
Memories    of   an    Author    by 

Percy  Fitzgerald,  80 
Mendenhall,  Lawrence,  Among 

My     Autographs     by,     87; 

methods  of,  91 
Mendenhall,  Mr.,  89 
Meredith,  George,  referred  to, 

4 
Middlebrook,       Washington's 

army  encamped  at,  422 
Middleton,      Miss,      Buckle's 

mother   was   a,  205 
Mikado,  the,  reference  to 

Katisha  in,  3 
Mill,  John  Stuart,  104;   letter 

to  Riddle  from,  quoted,  176 
Miller,     Major,    De    Quincey 

writes  of,  184 
Milnes,  Richard  Monckton,  a 


successful  collector,  20;  re- 
ferred to,  104 

Milton,  John,  writes  in  Car- 
doyn's  album,  62;  historical 
document  of,  156 

Milton,  Life  of,  Hayley's,  314 

Mitchell,  Donald  G.,  speaks  of 
Hawthorne,  272;  speaks  of 
Thoreau  in  his  American 
Land  and  Letters,  295 

Mitford,  John,  edition  of,  134 

Mitton,  Thomas,  letter  from 
Dickens  to,  quoted,  196  ff.; 
manuscript  of  Christmas 
Carol,  given  to,  310 

Monboddo,  Lord,  James  Bur- 
nett becomes,  167 

Monroe,  James,  reference  made 
to  election  of,  6 

Montagu,  Lady  Mary  Wortley, 
finding  of  letters  of,  304 

Montague  quoted,  7 

Moore,  Alfred,  value  of  letter 
of,  100;  burning  of  Byron's 
autobiography  by,  311 

Morgan,  J.  P.,  American  col- 
lector, 77;  as  a  collector,  103 

Morris,  George  P.,  letter  from 
Aldrich  to,  quoted,  274 

Morris,  Robert,  referred  to,  30 

Morrison,  Alfred,  collection  of, 

19 

Morse,  Mr.,  quoted,  119 
Morton,   Dr.,  Burnett's  book 

to  be  sent  to,  168 
Motley,    John    Lothrop,    dis- 
agreeable experience  of,  268; 
letter     to     Badeau      from, 
quoted,  270 
Mozart,  letter  of,  105 
Murat,  handwriting  of,  10 
Murray,  John,   letter  written 
by,  142;  burning  of  Byron's 
autobiography  by,  311 
Musgrave,  Mr.,  160 
My  Study  Windows  by  Lowell 
quoted, 298 

Napier,  Baron,  note  from, 
quoted,  122 


Inbex 


329 


Napoleon  referred  to,  77 
Napoleon,  Sloane's,  referred  to, 

73 
Napoleon    and   his    Marshals, 

73 

Natural  Science  by  Herschell, 
192 

Nelson,  Lord,  supposed  letter 
of,  68 

Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  Chasles 
writes  a  book  about,  42; 
supposed  letter  to  Pascal 
from,  43;  forged  letter  of, 
quoted,  44;  receipts  signed 
by,  found,  302 

Nichols,  John  Gough,  Auto- 
graphs of  Remarkable  Person- 
ages, etc.,  by,  48 

Nicoll,  W.  Robertson,  reference 
to  History  of  English  Liter- 
ature, by,  6 1 

Nicolson,  Mr.,  Archdeacon  of 
Carlisle,  quoted,  160 

North  American  Review,  article 
published  in,  125 

North,  Lord,  refuses  Carleton's 
resignation,  241 

Northcote,  Sir  Stafford,  comes 
to  the  United  States,  217; 
Field  applies  to,  217 

Norway,  80 

Norwood,  Mr.,  152 

Old    and    Odd    Memories    by 

Lionel  Tollemache,  67 
Oldmixon,  account  of  American 

Colonies  by,  150 
O'Reilly,  Miles,  nom  de  plume 

of  Halpine,  278 
Osborn,   W.    H.,   letter   from 

Cobden  to,  quoted,  207 
"Oscar  of  Alva,"  a  poem  in 

Hours  of  Idleness,  by  Byron, 

140 
Osgood,  letter  from  Taylor  to, 

quoted,  257 
Our  Mutual  Friend,  manuscript 

of,  in  wreck  with  Dickens, 

199;  G.  W.  Childs  owner  of 

manuscript  of,  310 


Oxford,  University  of,  Mr. 
Madan,  a  lecturer  at,  n; 
reference  to  professors  of,  21 

Painters,  Ship  and  Turtle  on 

Leadenhall    Street,    Thack- 
eray speaks  of,  194 
Palmerston,  McCarthy  writes 

of,  207 
Panizzi,  letter  from  Lord  Cran- 

worth  to,  quoted,  227 
Paradise  Lost,  reference  to,  26; 

receipt  for  copyright  of,  33; 

contracts  for  sale  of,  157 
Paris  Sketch  Book,  The, 

Thackeray's  works  printed 

as,  194 
Park  edition,  Gray's  verses  in, 

135  J  copy  of  Gray 's  poem,  136 
Parker,  Judge  Alton  B.,  anec- 
dote related  about,  49 
Parker,  Sir  Gilbert,  anecdote 

told  of,  95 
Parsons,  Dr.,  finds  Pepperell 

papers,  307 
Pascal,  Chasles  writes  about, 

42;  forged  letters  from  Hon. 

Robert  Boyle  to,  42 
Paston  Letters,  five  volumes  of 

autograph  letters  in,  61 
Paterson,    General,    Carleton 

writes  of,  241 

Patience,  reference  made  to,  62 
Patton,   Dr.   Francis  Landey, 

referred  to,  109 
Pavey  and  Scott,  Guide  to  the 

Collector  of  Historical  Docu- 
ments by,  48 
Pawkins,  Major,  Mr.  Brick's 

estimate  of,  64 
Payne,  William  Morton,  writes 

of  Thoreau,  296 
Peacock,   Mrs.,   Shelley   pays 

debt  of,  153 
Pemberton,    Samuel,    Sophia, 

daughter  of,  138 
Pemberton,    Sophia,    Charles 

Lloyd  elopes  with,  138 
Pemberton,  T.  Edgar,  Life  of 

Harte,  by,  249 


330 


tlnbea: 


Pepperell  papers,  Dr.  Parsons 

finds,  307 
Pepys,  Samuel,  diary  of,  158; 

friendship   of   Evelyn   and, 

159;  letter  from  Evelyn  to, 

qjoted,  159  ff. 
Pericles,    supposed    letter    to 

Alcibiades  from,  42 
Perry,  Miss,  letter  from  Lear 

to,  quoted,  145 
Petty,  William,  Earl  of  Shel- 

burne,  171 
Peyriere,  de  la,  marries  Miss 

Speed, 134 
Philadelphia,  Spring  tried  in, 

37 
Phillips,  Ambrose,  copy  of  a 

poem  by,  314 
Pickering,    Colonel,  Arnold 

writes  of,  245 
Picture  of  St.  John,  The,  by 

Bayard  Taylor,  151 
Pierce,  Mr.  John,  quoted,  89 
Plassey,  Robert  Clive,  Baron 

of,  169 
Pleasures  of  Hope  and  other 

Poems,  The,  inscription  in, 

314 
Pliny,  an  autograph  collector, 

60 

Plumer,  William,  note,  6 
Poe,  Edgar  Allan,  a  "Chapter 

on    Autography"    by,    64; 

comparison   between    Haw- 
thorne and,  66 
Poems    by    S.     T.    Coleridge, 

Second      Edition,      Lloyd's 

postscript  to,  138 
"Poets'   Corner,     manuscript 

in  the,  133 
Pompey,  supposed  letter  from 

Cleopatra  to,  42 
Poore,  Ben.  Perley,  letter  from 

Whittier  to,  quoted,  253 
Pope,  the,  autograph  of,  re- 
ferred to,  22 
Pope,  A.,  signature  on  copy  of 

poem,  314 
Portraits    of   the     Sixties    by 

McCarthy,  quoted,  214 


Powers,     Mr.,    an    American 

sculptor,  227 
Practical  Guide  for  the  Collector, 

A,  by  Mr.  Broadley,  48 
Practical  Manual  for  Amateurs 

and  Historical  Students,  A, 

by  Dr.  Scott,  48 
Pringle,    Sir   John,    Burnett's 

book  to  be  sent  to,  168 
Prior,  Matthew,  letter  to  Sir 

Thomas      Hanmer       from, 

quoted,  149 
Procter,   Bryan  Waller,  gives 

away  Charles  Lamb  letter, 

123;  a  letter  of,  quoted,  154, 

155 
Prud'homme,   M.,   speech  of, 

quoted,  22,  23 
Prussia,     England    abandons, 

171 
Puckering,  Sir  John,  Campbell 

writes  of,  230 
Puttick    &    Simpson,    Milton 

receipt  sold  by,  33 
Pybus,  letter   from  Clive  to, 

quoted,  169 

Rab,  Dr.  Brown  writes  of,  311 
Raffles,     Doctor,     a     famous 

collector,  19;  "finds"  of,  301 
Raleigh,  Professor  Walter,  7 
Ramsey,    Mrs.,    Prior    sends 

respects  to,  150 
Recollections  of  Edmund  Yates, 

74 

Recollections  of  Sixty  Years 
Ago  by  the  Bancrofts,  86 

Rejected  Addresses,  The,  quota- 
tion from,  147 

Reminiscences,  Carlyle  writes 
of  De  Quineey  in,  186 

Retrospect  of  Forty  Years  by 
William  Allen  Butler,  105 

Reynolds,  Sir  Joshua,  130 

Kiddle,  William,  letter  from 
Ruskin  to,  quoted,  175; 
letter  from  Mill  to,  quoted, 
176;  letter  from  Dickens  to, 
177;  letter  from  Cobden  to, 
quoted,  178 


Unfcer 


331 


Rideing,  William  H.,  comment 
on  book  by,  125;  letter  from 
Gladstone  to,  126 

Riedesel,  Baron  von,  letter 
from  Carleton  to,  quoted, 
241 

Ripon,  Marquis  of,  comes  to 
the  United  States,  217 

Riverside  edition  by  James 
R.  Lowell,  autograph  poem 
from,  quoted,  54 

Roberts,  Lord,  autograph  of, 
referred  to,  22 

Robespierre,  handwriting  of,  10 

Robinson,  Professor  Charles, 
article  by,  82 ;  referred  to, 
87;  Bryant  writes  of,  121; 
his  way  of  getting  auto- 
graphs, 174 

Rogers,  Samuel,  a  collector, 
104;  letter  from,  quoted,  156; 
price  paid  for  Milton  docu- 
ment by,  157 

Roland,  Mme.,  finding  of 
letters  of  Buzot  and,  304 

Roosevelt,  ex-President,  auto- 
graph of,  referred  to,  22 

Rosary,  The,  referred  to,  5 

Rosebery,  Lord,  referred  to,  116 

Rossetti,  Christina,  letter  to 
Bayard  Taylor  from,  quoted, 

151 

Roumania,  Queen  of,  auto- 
graph of,  referred  to,  22 

Ruddigore,  285 

Rupell,  Mr.,  Clive  sends  for, 
170 

Ruskin,  John,  his  opinion  of 
readers,  5;  letter  from,  on 
sale,  25;  letter  to  Riddle 
from,  quoted,  175 

Russell,  Mr.  G.  W.  E.,  quoted, 
217 

Ryerson-Dick,  forged  pass  for, 
sold,  39 

St.  Leonards  (Sugden),  a  Vic- 
torian Chancellor,  221 ;  letter 
to  Brougham  from,  quoted, 
226 


Sahara,  Desert  of,  referred  to, 

24 

Salisbury,  Lord,  autograph  of, 
referred  to,  22 

Sandwich,  Lady,  Prior  writes 
of,  150 

Sargent,  131 

Savannah,  Gwinnett  in,  98 

Savoy,  Comtesse  Viry's  castle 
in,  135 

Schaub,  Mrs.,  calls  on  Thomas 
Gray,  134 

Schiller,  forged  letters  of,  41 

Schoenewald,  Cornet,  Carleton 
writes  of,  241 

Scot,  George,  Burnett's  book 
to  be  sent  to,  168 

Scotland,  Dr.  Johnson's  tour 
in,  144 

Scotsbrig,  Carlyleat,  191 

Scott  and  Pavey,  Guide  to  the 
Collector  of  Historical  Docu- 
ments, etc.,  by,  48 

Scott,  Dr.,  quoted,  14,  34; 
references  to  Upcott  made 
by,  16;  Milton  forgery 
pointed  out  by,  33,  34; 
writes  of  forgeries,  35; 
quoted  on  Spring's  trial,  38; 
A  Practical  Manual  for 
Amateurs  and  Historical 
Students  by,  48;  tells  of 
supposed  letter  of  Lord 
Nelson,  68;  letter  of,  105; 
writes  of  "finds,"  300 

Scott,  Sir  Walter,  autograph 
of,  on  sale,  25;  forged  auto- 
graph of,  by  A.  H.  Smith,  41 

Seccombe,  Thomas,  reference 
to  History  of  English  Litera- 
ture by,  6 1 

Selborne,  Lady,  letter  from 
Hatherly  to,  quoted,  231 

Selborne,  Lord,  a  Victorian 
Chancellor,  221,  228 

Senior  suspended  from  the 
council,  170 

Seward,  William  H.,  104 

Shakespeare,  William,  holo- 
graph letters  of,  54 


332 


flnfcei 


Shelburne,  William  Pitt,  Earl 
of,  letter  to  Lord  Egremont 
from,  quoted,  172 

Shelf  of  Old  Books,  A,  note  of 
Shelley's  from,  153 

Shelley,  Percy  B.,  forged  let- 
ters of,  41;  letter  to  Hay- 
ward  from,  quoted,  153 

Shepard,  Edward  Morse,  biog- 
raphy of  Van  Buren  by,  69 

Sheridan,  reference  made  to,  12 

Shiplake,  James  Granger,  the 
parson  of,  76 

Siddons,  Mrs.,  letter  from,  on 
sale,  25 

"Signers  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,"  73 

Simon,  Algernon  O.,  writes 
Brooks  for  autograph,  201 

Simpson,  Samuel,  Robert 
Southey  writes  verse  for, 
124 

Sims,  Mr.  George  R.,  book  by, 

47 

Skene,  Sir  Jo.,  160 
Skimpole,  Harold,  108 
Smalley,  George  W.,  referred 

to,  1 80 
Smith,    Alexander    Hpwland, 

imprisoned    for    Edinburgh 

forgeries,  41 
Smith,     General     E.     Kirby, 

written  order  of,  308 
Smith,    Goldwin,    author    of 

Social  Life  in   London,   20; 

exile  to  Canada  of,  21 
Snider,  Denton  J.,  77 
Social  Life  in  London  by  Gold- 
win  Smith,  20 
"Society  for  the  Suppression  of 

Albums,"  Southey  suggests 

a,  124 
Socrates,  77 
Sotheby,  catalogue  of,  referred 

to,  1 8 
South    Kensington    Museum, 

Dickens's  manuscripts  pre- 
sented to,  310 
Southey,  Robert,  criticism  of 

Essays   on   Taste,    by   2; 


quoted,  8;  The  Doctor  by, 
quoted,  49;  verse  by,  quoted, 
124;  Lloyd  a  friend  of,  138; 
letter  from  Lloyd  to,  quoted, 
139;  The  Curse  ofKehamaby, 
147;  handwriting  of,  147; 
Tale  of  the  Three  Bears  by, 
147;  letter  to  Williaca  Webb 
from,  quoted,  148 

Spain  in  war  against  England, 
171 

Speed,  Miss  Harriet,  Comtesse 
de  Virri,  133;  romance  of 
Thomas  Gray  and,  133  ff.; 
calls  on  Thomas  Gray,  134; 
marriage  of,  134 

Sprague,  Dr.  William  B.,  an 
autograph  collector,  89,  91, 
104 

Spring,  Robert,  Washington's 
name  forged  by,  36;  tried  for 
forgery,  37;  forges  auto- 
graphs of  Washington, 
Franklin,  Jefferson,  etc.,  37; 
methods  of,  37;  vindicated, 
38;  deceives  a  Massachusetts 
collector,  39 

Staplehurst,  Dickens's  account 
of  accident  at,  195 

Stapleton  quoted,  49 

Steele,  Life  of,  Aitken's,  162 

Steele,  Richard,  The  Crisis,  a 
pamphlet  by,  161;  expelled 
from  Parliament,  162;  letter 
to  Hanmerfrom,  quoted,  162 

Stephen,  Sir  Leslie,  referred  to, 
104,  227,  228;  letter  from 
Buckle  to,  quoted,  204; 

Stevenson  referred  to,  116 

Stoke  Manor  House,  Lady 
Cobham  resident  of,  133 

Story  of  a  Bad  Boy  by  Haw- 
thorne, 2  73 

Sugden  as  a  lawyer,  224 

Sun,  the,  100 

Swift,  J . ,  name  on  title-page,  314 

Swinburne,  140 


Unbei 


333 


Talks  About  Autographs  by 
Dr.  George  B.  Hill,  35,  47 

Talks  in  a  Library  with  Laur- 
ence Hutton,  127 

Taylor,  Bayard,  letter  from 
Christina  Rossetti ,  151; 
letter  from  Tennyson  to, 
quoted,  152;  letter  to  Fiske 
from,  quoted,  255;  letter  to 
Osgood  from,  257;  letter 
from  Bancroft  to,  quoted, 
260  ff.;  letter  from  Holmes 
to,  quoted,  262;  note  from 
Mark  Twain  to,  quoted,  265; 
writes  to  Longfellow  about 
Hiawatha,  265;  Longfellow 
sends  advance  sheets  of  work 
to,  265;  letter  from  Long- 
fellow to,  quoted,  266;  letter 
from  Lowell  to,  quoted,  267 

Tefft,  Israel  K.,  letter  from 
Bryant  to,  quoted,  121; 
reference  made  to  story 
about,  305 

Teignmouth,  Lord,  autograph 
of,  90 

"Telautograph,"  invention 
called,  53 

Temple,  Rev.  W.  J.,  corre- 
spondence of  James  Boswell 
and,  found,  303 

Tennyson,  letter  to  Bayard 
Taylor,  from,  quoted,  152; 
referred  to,  12,  140 

Tenterden,  Lord.     See  Abbott 

Thackeray,  W.  M.,  referred  to, 
12,  74;  letter  to  Ainsworth 
from,  quoted,  193 

Thomas  Augustus,  plays  of,  96 

Thoreau,  Henry  D.,  letter 
to  Wiley  &  Putnam  from, 
quoted,  293;  Lowell  speaks 
oft  293»  294;  Burroughs 
speaks  of,  293,  294;  Mitchell 
writes  of,  295;  life  at  Walden 
of,  295;  lives  with  Emerson, 
297;  Lowell  writes  of,  298 

Thumb,  Tom,  referred  to,  77 

Thurloe  papers,  finding  of,  304 

Tilden,  Mr.,  254 


Titan,  Mr.  Hogg  editor  of,  185 

Togo,  Admiral,  autograph  of, 
referred  to,  22 

Tollemache,  Lionel,  story  re- 
lated by,  67 

Toulmin,  Dr.,  verses  of,  146 

Trevelyan,  Sir  George,  jingle 
by,  104 

Tribune,  letter  of  Bright's 
printed  in  the,  210 

Truro,  a  Victorian  Chancellor, 

221 

Turner,  Dawson,  the  botanist, 
16;  letter  en  the  death  of 
Upcptt  by,  17,  18;  Milton 
receipt  among  manuscripts 
of.  33;  letter  from  collection 
of,  149 

Twain,  Mark,  note  to  Taylor, 
quoted,  265 

Twiss,  Life  of  Eldon,  Hood 
writes  of,  146 

Underwood,  F.  H.,  succeeds 
Bret  Harte  as  consul  at 
Glasgow,  263;  letter  from 
Holmes  to,  quoted,  263 

United  States,  increase  of 
collectors  in  the,  19 

Upcott,  William,  an  English 
collector,  16;  Scott's  refer- 
ence to,  16;  Turner  writes  of 
death  of,  17,  18;  an  opinion 
of  collection  of,  149 

Van  Brugh,  quotation  from 
The  Confederacy  by,  12 

Van  Buren,  Martin,  Marvin 
writes  of,  69;  Shepard's 
biography  of,  69;  unfinished 
autobiography  by,  107 

Vanity  Fair  referred  to,  12,  26 

Vatel,  M.,  love  letters  found 
by,  304 

Vatican,  autograph  of  Luther 
in  the, 122 

Vicar  of  Wakefield,  The, 
author's  copy  of,  313 

Victoria,  Queen,  letter  from 
on  sale,  25 


334 


Unfce* 


Victorian  Chancellors,  The,  by 
J.  B.  Atlay,  220 

Virri,  Comtesse  de.  See 
Harriet  Speed 

Viry,  on  Lake  Geneva,  134 

Vrain-Lucas,  M.  C  h  a  s  1  e  s 
swindled  by,  41;  meets  his 
Waterloo,  42;  trial  and  im- 
prisonment of,  43 

Walpole,  Horace,  and  Lady 
Cobham,  133;  quoted,  133; 
signatureoncopyof  poem,3 14 

Ward,  Artemus,  poem  by 
author  to,  50;  letter  of 
Brooks  to,  202 ;  letter  writ- 
ten by,  quoted,  275 

"Ward,  Artemus,"  202 

Ward,  F.  O.,  letter  from  Hood 
to,  quoted,  146 

Ware,  Rev.  Henry,  Emerson 
becomes  assistant  to,  288 

Warner  talks  to  Young  Girls' 
Club, 265 

Warwick,  reference  to,  24 

Washington,  Booker  T.,  re- 
ferred to,  30 

Washington,  George,  referred 
to,  30;  forged  autograph  of, 
36;  forged  pass  of,  found  in 
Boston,  39;  autograph  forged 
by  Robert  Spring,  36;  letter 
to  Hamilton  from,  105; 
Rogers  writes  of  letter  of, 
156;  Webster  writes  about, 
276;  price  of  letter  by,  307; 
referred  to,  30 

Watson,  John,  anecdote  told 
of,  125 

Watts,  George  F.,  referred  to, 
116 

Waverly,  part  of  manuscript  of, 
105 

Webb,  William,  letter  from 
Southey  to,  quoted,  148 

Webster,  Daniel,  inkstand  be- 
longing to,  114;  Whittier's 
injustice  to,  252 


Webster,  Noah,  letter  written 

by,  quoted,  276 
Wedgwood  records,  finding  of, 

304 
Weese,  Mr.,  Greene  writes  of, 

Wellington,  Duke  of,  letter 
from,  on  sale,  25;  use  of 
lithograph  by,  67 

Wemmick,  Mr.,  referred  to,  301 

Westbury,  a  Victorian  Chan- 
cellor, 221 

Westminster  Review,  The, 
quoted,  199 

W ,  G.  F.,  Mr.,  note  from, 

59 
Whittier,    John    G.,    author's 

views  on,  252;  letter  to  Mr. 

Poore  from,  quoted,  253 
Whittier,    M.    F.,    John    G. 

writes  of,  253 
Wilde,   Oscar,  great  value  of 

autograph  of,  103 
Wilder,  Jim,  Ward  writes  of ,  275 
Wiley  &  Putnam,  letter  from 

Thoreau  to,  quoted,  293 
Williamson,      Mr.,     Nicolson 

writes  of,  1 60 
Wolsey,  Cardinal,  autographed 

letters  of,  302 
Wood,     William     Page.     See 

Hatherly 
Wordsworth,  Lloyd  a  friend  of, 

138 
World's  Best  Literature,    The, 

by   the  author,   77 
Wortley,  Mr.,  Steele  speaks  of 

letter  to,  162 

Wotton,  Evelyn  writes  of,  161 
Wren,     receipts     signed     by, 

found,  302 

Yates,   Edmund,  Recollections 

of,  74 

York,  Cardinal,  sale  of  manu- 
scripts of,  304 

Young  Girls'  Club,  Mark 
Twain  writes  of,  265 


J}  Selection  from  the 
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States  Copyright  Law,  and  information  concerning  International 
Copyrights,  together  with  general  hints  for  authors. 

By  G.  H.  P.  and  J.  B.  P. 

Seventh  Edition,  re-written  with  additional  material. 
8vo,  gilt  top,  net  $1.75 

"This  handy  and  useful  book  is  written  with  perfect  fairness 
and  abounds  in  hints  which  writers  will  do  well  to  '  make  a  note 
of . '  .  .  .  There  is  a  host  of  other  matters  treated  succinctly 
and  lucidly  which  it  behooves  beginners  in  literature  to  know, 
and  we  can  recommend  it  most  heartily  to  them." 

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